Long Denied
by cousin D
Summary: FINISHED Fruits Basket crossover Petshop of Horrors. No one knows why the Souma family is cursed...no one except Shigure. What will Shigure do with his knowledge and why hasn't he ever told anyone? Who is that beautiful man who is intent on taking Kyo awa
1. Bad Puppy

Petshop of Horrors X-over Fruits Basket

LONG DENIED

Legend says that long ago, God invited all the animals to his house for a New Years party. All the animals attended, except the Cat. The mischievous rat had tricked the cat into believing the party was the day after. God was well pleased with the attending animals, but when the cat appeared and begged to be let in, God turned him away. 

And so, the cat was forever separate from its family.

This is the story of the Zodiac Family and how important every outsider truly is.

The Zodiac:

The Head of the Family

Dog

Snake

Dragon

Rat

Ram

Tiger

Horse

Monkey

Rooster

Boar 

Hare

Ox

And the outsider...the cat

CHAPTER 1- Bad Puppy

Year: 1983

Dog-Shigure

Snake-Ayame

Dragon-Hatori

Cat-Toma (Kazuma's grandfather)

Shigure- 6 years old

Souma Shigure turned into a dog whenever a girl hugged him. Only, it wasn't just hugging and Shigure thought that was a terrible way to break the rules. The rule was that he had to be hugged, but he would turn into a dog even if a girl bumped into him and that just wasn't fair. It seemed like cheating to Shigure.

It was the curse of the Souma family that made Shigure turn into a dog.

It was that same curse that made twelve other people in his family turn into animals when hugged by the opposite sex.

"How do you think it all started." Shigure asked his two friends as they strolled down the busy streets of the city.

Ayame, happily skipping ahead of Shigure and Hatori and swinging his new school bag, looked over his shoulder and fixed his golden eyes on Shigure. Ayame was quite beautiful, even for a six-year-old. His hair had grown down to his shoulders and was a shining silver color. Even his face was so delicate that it almost made him look like a girl. "How did what start, 'Gure?" As usual, Ayame was smiling as if he hadn't a care in the world.

"The curse, how did it..."

Shigure was cut off by Hatori's sharp glare. "Don't."

"But I want to know why..."

"No." Hatori stopped walking and glared at Shigure. "We aren't safe. We're outside the Main House, so we can't talk about it. That's the rule." With that, Hatori started walking again and he took Ayame's hand and started pulling him briskly along. "Come on. We have to go or we'll be late for school."

So, with Hatori's reprimand and warning in mind, Shigure tried to forget his question. He wasn't just worried about himself, but he was worried for Ayame, too. Ayame loved to touch and hug everyone, he was a very tactile boy. It wasn't a problem in the Main House, where everyone knew about the curse, but if he forgot to control himself, Ayame could easily transform right in the middle of school. That would be bad for everyone. Ayame would get a beating when they got home and Akira, the head of the family, found out what had happened. It would also be bad for Hatori who would be expected to erase the memory of everyone who'd seen the transformation.

It wasn't an easy question to forget about, but Shigure tried to do as Hatori wanted. After all, this was an important day. The first day of school.

It was also the first day the three of them had been allowed outside the walls of the Souma House alone. They were finally trusted enough that the head of the family didn't make them go with an adult.

Shigure was as happy as any first grader on his first day of school as he walked with his cousins, Hatori and Ayame, who also happened to be his two best friends. Ayame and Hatori were as different as anyone could possibly be. Ayame was almost always happy, if a little selfish and always loud with a bright, outgoing personality. Hatori was always quiet and serious, tended to keep himself in the background of whatever situation he was in. 

"There it is!" Ayame shouted, pointing to what seemed like a huge school to Shigure. "Oh! I'm so excited! This is going to be wonderful!" Ayame threw his arms around Shigure and hugged him tightly while Hatori paused long enough for Ayame to get a hold of himself before they all continued on again.

"Guys!" 

Shigure turned to the shouted voice and saw a familiar boy waving at them from the gates of the school. He raised an arm and waved back. "Hi, Kazuma!" Kazuma was only a year older, but Shigure liked the older boy.

"Come get me if you need me." Kazuma said when Shigure and his friends caught up with him at the school gate. "You know," He bent down to whisper, secretively, "if anything 'happens'. There are a couple of girl teachers and you never know if you might run into a mother or something."

"Thank you, Kazuma." Hatori said, his voice cool and distant, as it usually was when he spoke to someone other than Shigure or Ayame. They were really the only people he liked to talk to.

"No problem." Kazuma grinned and spoke in a more normal voice. "Your dad told me to look out for you three, Hatori."

Hatori flinched at the mention of his father, but it was so slight that Shigure doubted Kazuma actually saw it. "Will you be walking home with us?" Hatori asked as he started to walk again. He looked around curiously at all the people and Shigure could almost see the thoughts running though Hatori's head, wondering if this place would be safe and what would they do. 

'Hari's so smart.' Shigure thought proudly. 'He's always prepared for everything.'

"Sorry, but I've got lessons today." Kazuma's face lit up at the thought of his martial arts lessons. Shigure had heard that Kazuma was really very good, but he hadn't yet seen his cousin in action. Kazuma was one of the few members of the Souma family who knew about the Zodiac curse, but wasn't one of them. It was all because Kazuma's grandfather was the cat, not that the cat belonged to the Zodiac or anything.

"Of course we get a lady teacher." Hatori muttered when the three of them walked into the classroom and saw a pretty young woman sitting behind her desk. Still, there was nothing they could really do except try to control Ayame and get in and out of class as fast as possible.

"Now class," The teacher said with a bright smile as she stood before the class of all boys. It was an all boy school, after all. "So we can all get to know each other a little better, I'd like everyone to draw a picture of their family and then we'll have a little show and tell."

As she passed out large pieces of white paper, Shigure leaned over and whispered to Hatori, "Do you think she wants pictures of everyone? How will we fit them all on the paper?" Just thinking of everyone in his family, Shigure knew he'd need at least two more pieces of paper. Why, there were the twelve Zodiac members, plus all their families, plus the cat, plus...

"Just draw the people you're closest to." Hatori advised as he picked up a black crayon and started.

Soon Shigure's paper was filled with people. He tried to only draw Hatori and Ayame's families, the ones he lived with. Then he remembered that he couldn't leave out his aunt or his three uncles or...and soon there wasn't a blank space left on the paper. Hatori, not a great artist, had drawn very simple portrait of his mom, Shigure, and Ayame. 

Shigure didn't notice that the lady teacher was near them until she bent over to speak with Ayame. Shigure almost started sweating when she put a hand on Ayame's shoulder and leaned over, getting entirely to close for comfort, not that Ayame noticed.

"Ayame, dear," The teacher started. "I thought I asked you all to draw your families." She was looking at his paper, curiously.

"But I did." Ayame smiled at her. "They're all apart of my family. Don't you like it?"

"Well," She said doubtfully. "It's a very nice drawing, but I really wanted you to draw pictures of your family, not pets. Besides, you've got a dragon here and dragon's aren't real pets."

Shigure's eyes shot over to Ayame, who was blissfully unaware of how in danger he was. 'What do I do? He's gonna tell her everything!'

Fortunately, Hatori was very good at taking care of careless Ayame. With a loud screech of metal against tile, Hatori pushed his chair back and stepped over to Ayame. With his black crayon still in his hand, and ignoring the teachers' puzzled look, Hatori looked at what Ayame had drawn.

"'Tori!" Ayame beamed. "Do you like it? Can I see your picture?"

"Idiot." Hatori said, crossly. He used his black crayon and drew a large 'X' over Ayame's carefully drawn picture. 

"Souma-kun!" The indignant teacher cried, aghast at what Hatori had done. "How could you do that to your own cousin? And there's no need for name-calling!"

Hatori ignored her and spoke firmly to Ayame. "Do it right." He didn't even wait for Ayame to answer before he took his seat again and resumed his own drawing.

Ayame pouted, "But..."

"No buts. If you don't behave, I'll tell your mom that you can't go to school anymore and she'll hire you a private tutor. You'll have to stay at the estate when Shigure and I go to school and you'll be alone all day."

The threat of being separate from his two cousins worked perfectly and Ayame drew people this time with his usual flair for drawing.

The teacher, however, was far from done. "That's no way for you to behave, Souma-kun! Even if he is your cousin, you don't have the right to destroy his artwork. We could have given him a new piece of paper or..."

"Ayame needs to be handled firmly." Hatori told her with his ice-cold voice. "I know him better than you do."

"I don't want any back talk!" She snapped. "From now on, you work on your work and Ayame will work on his. If he has any problems, I'll take care of him."

For a moment, Shigure was sure that Hatori would say something in return. Instead, Hatori simply nodded and turned silently back to his work. It wasn't going to happen, Shigure knew. Hatori wasn't about to leave Ayame on his own with an outsider lady. He would always be there to protect Ayame.

Apparently satisfied with Hatori's answer, the teacher continued to look around at the drawings. "Is everyone done?" The teacher asked after a little while. "Shigure-kun, why don't you come up and show us your picture?"

Proudly, Shigure held up the picture of all his family. It had filled an entire sheet of paper with pictures of Hatori and Ayame in the center and surrounded by smaller pictures of everyone else who lived on the Souma estate. "This is everyone!" Shigure announced, happily.

"That's very nice," Shigure's teacher had said, "but which ones are your parents?"

Shigure looked at her, puzzled. "I didn't draw them. I've never seen them." He thought about the question carefully, but wasn't sure how he should answer. He couldn't tell her that the dragon had made his parents forget him. No one would be happy with him for that answer. "I live with Hatori and Ayame."

The tittering laughter in the classroom made Shigure blush and bite his lip. He lowered the picture slightly and wondered what he'd done wrong. He knew it sounded strange, but surely other people had lives like him. Right?

"That's enough!" The teacher snapped. "There's no reason for any of you to be laughing! That's very rude and I won't stand for it."

Ayame agreed and shot to his feet. "Don't any of you pick on my dear 'Gure-chan!" He shouted at the class. "He's a simply wonderful person and his drawing is grand!"

Hatori's support was, naturally, quieter, but Shigure could see the sympathy in Hatori's eyes.

"It's not important." Shigure said loudly. "I don't need parents, anyway. I've got lots of people who take care of me."

The teacher put a hand on Shigure's shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry, Shigure-kun. It's all right if you lost your parents. I understand how hard it must be for you, being an orphan."

"Orphan? My parents aren't dead. I just never see them."

The teacher frowned and gave Shigure a pitying look. "I'd like to see you at recess, Souma-kun." Then she walked away and continued with the class, but she kept looking at Shigure with pity and concern.

Later, at morning recess, Shigure found himself alone in the classroom with a very sympathetic looking teacher. "Have a seat, Souma-kun." She gestured to a chair next to her desk. "You said, earlier, that you lived with your cousins. How do you live with both of them?"

"Well," Shigure began, he looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Hatori and Ayame standing at the door. "Well, I live with Ayame one week and then Hatori another week. Why?"

"Why do you live with them instead of your parents?" She asked without answering his question. "If they're still alive, why don't you live with them?"

Shigure shrugged. "I just don't. They left me with the family when I was born and then they left. I think they still live in the city, but the head of the family doesn't like me seeing them." In truth, he didn't like thinking about it. He didn't live with them because he was the dog, it was as simple as that.

Her eyes inexplicably filled with tears and, before Shigure could react, she pulled him in for a hug. "Oh, you poor dear..."

"NO!" Shigure cried, but it was to late. With a puff of smoke, Shigure had turned into a small, black puppy. 

The teacher blinked, shocked to find a black puppy in her arms, but just as she was opening her mouth to say something, Hatori rushed into the room with Ayame at his side. Ayame grabbed Shigure was Hatori threw himself at the stunned teacher and slapped his hand over her eyes. They both fell backwards onto the floor and Hatori was sitting on the teacher when a bright flash of light, like the flash on a camera, filled the room.

"'Gure-san?" Ayame looked down at Shigure and held him close. "Are you all right?"

Shigure didn't answer, but he dug his claws into the front of Ayame's school uniform and whimpered pitifully. 'What am I going to do?' He thought worriedly. He'd never transformed outside the family estate before. What would the head of the family say? What would he do?

Ayame patted Shigure's head. "Don't worry," He said soothingly. "Tori-san will think of something. He always does."

But one look at Hatori said that he might not be up to thinking up escape plans right now. Hatori had finished with the teacher, who was now unconscious on the floor, and stood up shakily. He turned to them, completely exhausted, and staggered towards them. "I...I think we should go home. Ayame, get Shigure's clothes." Every word came out as if it hurt and Shigure was horrified to see a trickle of blood start to seep out of Hatori's nose.

"Hari!" Shigure cried, jumping out of Ayame's arms and running up to Hatori. "You're hurt!" It felt as natural to run on four legs as it did on two, as if Shigure had always meant to be a dog. "What happened?"

"No. It always happens like this." Hatori wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. "It'll stop in a minute. I made her forget seeing you as a dog, Shigure. It's okay, now, but we have to find someplace to hide until you turn back. I hate this." He put a hand to his forehead and sighed deeply. "We can't stay, someone might see you turn back. Ayame...I need you." He said this as he started to fall and Ayame just barely caught him in time. "I...I don't feel so good. I have to go home." With Ayame's support to stand upright, the three of them started to walk slowly away from classroom.

Ayame bent to pick up Shigure's clothes, as always, obeying Hatori, before they slowly started out and left the teacher laying on the floor as if she'd simply fainted. Ayame kept up a pleasant chatter, as he usually did, while they left, though his voice was carefully kept quiet because of Hatori's headache. Doing that flashy thing to erase people's memories always made Hatori's head hurt and made him weak.

Ayame took them to the boy's bathroom which was thankfully empty and helped Hatori to sit on one of the toilets with little puppy Shigure on his lap. "Stay here." Ayame said nervously. "I-I'll go look for Kazuma. He said he'd help us." So Ayame, thrust into the awkward position of leadership, ran from the bathroom in his frantic search for help. "Don't worry, I'll be right back!"

Shigure sat on Hatori's lap, worrying over his friend who sat with his eyes closed and his head bent down low so his longish hair was almost covering his eyes. "Hari...?"

"It hurts." Hatori whispered, not opening his eyes.

Shigure took the point and stopped talking. The last thing he wanted to do was to cause Hatori more pain what with the terrible headache he was sure to have. They waited in the boys' bathroom until, with another explosion of smoke, Shigure turned back into a human and put his clothes back on. "I'm sorry, Hari." Shigure said as he got dressed again. "I knew you were excited about coming to school. I'm sorry we have to go home so early."

"Don't worry about it." Hatori muttered. He stood up from the toilet seat and wandered out until he was next to the sinks with his back against a wall. Once there, he sank slowly down to the floor and rested his forehead on his knees and wrapped his arms around his bent knees. All-in-all, he looked terribly pitiful.

"I found him!" The door swung open and Ayame came in, followed closely by a slightly older boy with shoulder length, dark grey hair. 

Kazuma went to Hatori first and asked, compassionately, as he got down on his knees and put an arm around Hatori, "Are you all right, Hari?" For someone who was supposed to be so good at fighting, Kazuma was amazingly gentle, Shigure thought.

"Yes, Kazuma." Hatori raised his now bloodshot eyes. "I need to go home, though." His voice sounded frail and he looked as if he'd break at the slightest of noises.

"Yeah. I called home and had your mom called the school. Everything's all right. Shigure, are you ready?" Kazuma smiled at Shigure. "Don't worry. I don't think anyone will get upset about today. It's a good thing that Hatori was with you, though. You'll have to be more careful in the future. I don't think you should go by yourself, so I'll walk with you all. We'll get your books tomorrow."

With Ayame's help, Hatori climbed onto Kazuma's back and rested his head on Kazuma's shoulder. The four of them left the school together, Shigure trailing guiltily behind.

Later, Shigure didn't go home. Home was, this week, Hatori's house, and Shigure didn't want to face Hatori's father. He was grateful that they'd given him a place to live, just as he was grateful Ayame's mom for letting him live with the two of them, but he didn't want to be there. There were to many things he'd started to think about as he'd walked back to the estate.

Instead, Shigure went to the back of the estate, easily avoiding all of the adults who were still at home, and he went to Toma's house. It was the one place Shigure had been forbidden to go and he'd never been there. After all, Toma was the cat. The cat, the outcast from the Zodiac family, was never allowed to belong. Shigure didn't quite understand why Touma was the outcast, but he did see it. No one but Shigure ever visited Toma in his lonely little home and no one in the family ever spoke to Toma. It was at that house that Shigure found Toma pulling weeds from his garden.

"Good morning, Shigure-chan." Toma said before he looked up at Shigure. "Weren't you supposed to be in school...oh." He looked up and saw Shigure. "You look upset, little dog. Do you want to come in?"

Shigure found himself sitting on Toma's sofa with a cup of tea in his hand before long. "I don't like school." Shigure told Toma once the old man had sat down next to him. "It was awful. Everyone laughed at me and the teacher was a lady and she made me transform and she hurt Hari and..." Shigure hesitated a moment. "She asked me why I don't live with my parents." He gave Toma a pleading look. "Why? Where are my parents, Toma?" He had been telling his teacher the truth that he thought his parents were somewhere in the city and he knew they'd left him because he was the dog, but...why? He didn't hurt people. He was smart. So why did they leave him?

The old man seemed ready to take Shigure in his arms, but he stopped himself. He went to a bookshelf, one of many in the cat's home, and pulled a large book down. He wordlessly sat down and again and opened the book. It turned out to be a photo album and Toma flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for. "These are you parents and your two older sisters, Shigure-chan." He handed the book to Shigure.

They were so happy looking. Shigure held the book with numb fingers. He'd seen them before, at the New Years party, but he hadn't known who they were. They hadn't even looked twice at him when he'd passed them. It was only a fleeting glance, but Shigure did remember them. "They look nice." He couldn't think of anything else he could say.

"They didn't want you." Toma told Shigure, sadly, but bluntly. "They don't live on the estate anymore, by orders from the head of the family."

"Why not?" Shigure asked. "Did I do something bad? It's not fair that Aya and Hari have families and I don't." The mismatched pair, a man who looked older than the oldest mountain and a boy who had barely started his life, sat together on the simple sofa in Toma's house. It was as old as all of the houses within the walls of the Souma estate, older than living memory.

"Life is often unfair, little dog." There was sadness in Toma's voice, but that grief was always around Toma, like a cloud. It was like he'd gotten used to being sad long ago and didn't bother to fight it anymore. "Your parents wanted to love you, I'm sure they did. But...it's hard to love someone who is cursed."

Shigure pouted and pulled his knees up to his chest. "Why are we cursed? No one else turns into animals when they get hugged, so why us?"

"I don't know. No one does."

For as long as Shigure could remember, it had been this way. Shigure had been living with Ayame's family and Hatori's family for as long as he could remember. Ayame and Hatori were lucky and had families that not only accepted them, but were proud to have them. So Shigure, the unwanted child, was passed between the two families like the stray dog he was. 

"Why do I have to be cursed?" Shigure demanded, his eyes going once more to the photograph of the parents he didn't know. "I don't like being passed around, I just want to live in one house and have one bed. I want my own mom and dad." Now, Shigure did start to cry and he let Toma hug him. He didn't like people seeing him weak, but it was okay with Toma. Toma wouldn't tell.

"We all want what we can not have, little dog. I want my family, too, but they will not have me."

"I'm your family and I like you." Shigure said. He brushed the tears from his face. For some reason, it was important to Shigure that Toma know he was wanted and liked. 

"You say that because you are the dog." Toma said fondly. "It's your place in the family to guard the others. Dogs are, after all, pack animals." 

"I don't understand." Shigure had never liked being called a dog, he just turned into one, but really, he was a person. Right? 

"You will, in time."

Once he was calmed down, Shigure let himself relax into Toma's arms and found himself looking at the black and white beaded bracelet that Toma always wore that caught Shigure's attention. "Why do you wear that, Toma?" He reached out to finger the bracelet.

"It's magic." Toma whispered. "It keeps me from turning into a monster." Abruptly, Toma changed the subject. "You don't have to worry about not having your own home, little dog. In just a few years you'll be old enough to inherit the house of the dog. You have only four more years to wait." It was tradition that on the tenth birthday a child of the Zodiac would be able to, if he wanted, to move into the house that was automatically given to them at their birth. The house of the Dog had belonged to all of the dogs of the Zodiac family for many, many years. So many years that Shigure was sure history didn't go that far back. 

"Four more years of being passed around. At least Hatori's weird dad will be dead soon." As soon as he'd said it, Shigure slapped a hand over his mouth and looked at Toma, frightened. What an awful thing he'd said! "I didn't mean it."

Instead of being angry, Toma chuckled. "It's all right. Hatori's father is sick, Shigure-chan. He can't help what he says or does. You should be respectful, though. The head of the family always gives up everything for us. Akira's going to die very soon, you're right about that, but he's dying so that we can all live."

"Why?"

"The heads of our family have always been sick in their mind and heart; it's the worst part of the curse. As the years pass, Akira's body gets weaker and weaker until he, too, dies for us. Then, it will all start again when the next child is born who will have to bear the full weight of the curse. We have to do our best to take care of Akira, Shigure-chan. We must always take care of the head of our family. It's our responsibility."

Still, Shigure looked down at the photo. They were his family and he'd never met them. "Can I...?"

"Please," There was a pained note in Toma's voice. "I know what you want, little dog, but please don't ask. Akira decided, when your parents abandoned you, that you would have no contact with them other than New Years. We can't go against his wishes."

Shigure snapped, "I could go see them, just for a minute." He turned his eyes yet again to the picture in his hands. "Maybe things will be different this time and they won't be afraid of me." There was desperate hope in his voice, but Toma gently broke that hope.

"If they find that you are their son and that you will turn into a dog the moment you are hugged by a girl, even your own mother, they will reject you again." He pulled Shigure against him and held the small boy. "It has always happened this way, Shigure-chan. For as long as our family has been cursed, for as many years as we have existed, nothing has changed. A lucky few children are accepted by their parents, but all to many of us are rejected. When you were born, your father didn't know about us. Your mother took you in her arms and you changed into a puppy. Your father thought you were a monster." Toma held Shigure tightly, to soften the painful blow that his words caused. "Your mother was very frightened and your sisters weren't told about you. Akira, gave your parents a choice. They could raise you, separate from society in our closed family, or they could leave you with us and have their memories erased by Rishi, our previous dragon before Hatori was born."

Shigure tried to imagine what it must have been like for them to make such a decision, but he couldn't find any pity for them within himself. All he could think of what how he always seemed to be alone and he was the one who had to bear the curse. Hatori had his family and Ayame had his, but Shigure really didn't belong anywhere. 

"What about you?" Shigure asked. He rubbed his fingers over the photo of his family. "Were you rejected?" He reached up with his other hand to touch Toma's wrinkled, tired looking face. "Is that why you're always sad?"

The pain in Toma's face was almost hidden when he smiled. "Yes. I was rejected, but in a different way than you. I am the cat, Shigure. You know the customs regarding the cat."

Shigure scowled at that. "Stupid customs! If I were the head of the family, I wouldn't make you live all alone! I'd let you come to the Zodiac Banquet and everything!"

"So passionate, Shigure-chan." Toma laughed, tussling Shigure's hair. "But you are not the head of the family and I am to old to change. I will leave that to the young. Let us talk of something else, shall we? Those painful memories are long behind me."

"Shigure-chan?" Toma asked softly. "How do you know that Akira is close to death? I have had the doctors tell me, but how did you find out?"

"He smells like death."

Shigure couldn't bring himself to fight for the answers he wanted so badly. Perhaps the reason Toma didn't give Shigure the answers was that Toma himself didn't have them. Toma had always been kind to Shigure, encouraging his love of books and reading, even teaching him to write. Aya's parents had, many times, warned Shigure against visiting or even talking with the cat, but Shigure didn't understand why. He liked Toma, the kindly old man who rarely ever left his dark house at the back of the Souma estate.

Shigure saw the looks everyone gave Toma when he walked among the rest of the family and when he'd asked, everyone had just given him the same answer. "He's the cat. He doesn't belong with us."

It wasn't a good enough answer.

Toma was a Souma, like everyone else in the family. He belonged with them as much as anyone else! So what if he was born under the sign of the Cat? It didn't make that much difference. Toma was smart and very kind, it just seemed cruel the way everyone treated him. Everyone avoided Toma and they were either afraid of him or they just said nasty things behind his back. It had gotten to the point where Toma didn't leave his house anymore, he just sat with his books and seemed to be waiting for something.

"Don't worry." Shigure promised, leaning against Toma's chest. "I'll change things. I'll make sure you can be with everyone else."

"Yes," Toma put his hand on Shigure's head. "Yes, I do believe you will. After all, you are the dog."

"Huh?"

"You'll understand in time." Toma suddenly seemed to remember something. "I wanted to tell you, Shigure, I have a gift for you."

"A gift?" Shigure looked Toma expectantly, but was disappointed when the old man laughed.

"Well, not for right now. It's a present for your tenth birthday. There," He pointed to a closet in the corner of the house. "It's in there, wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine. On the morning of your tenth birthday, I want you to get it. It's very important."

"Can't I have it now?" Shigure asked, plaintively.

"No. Not now. You'll have to be patient for this present."

"SHIGURE!!!" 

Shigure jumped at the screamed voice and his hands tightened a little on Toma's shirt. "It's Akira." Shigure whispered, as if hoping the head of the family wouldn't hear him. Unable to help his frightened shaking, Shigure leaned against Toma and he started to whine. It was an ugly habit every had tried very hard to break Shigure of, but he couldn't help the panicked whimper when he was this afraid.

"Stay here, if you like. Akira never comes here." Toma held Shigure tightly, trying to reassure him, but, with a determined set to his eyes, Shigure slid down, out of Toma's lap. 

"Thanks, but if I don't go, he'll just get madder. I'll have to face him sometime." Besides all that, Shigure didn't want Toma to get in trouble for hiding him and, Shigure knew, Akira would be waiting for him later. After all, Akira was Hatori's dad.

Waiting in the gardens just a few yards from Toma's house, Shigure found Akira and he stiffened his resolve as the man's eyes landed on him.

"I let you out of my sight for one day, and you get into so much trouble, koinu." Akira's voice was soft as silk, but Shigure didn't like it. He didn't like Akira.

"I'm sorry." Shigure said, bowing his head to the head of his family.

"Sorry...sorry..." Akira wasn't nearly so old as Toma, but he was very sick, or so everyone had told Shigure. Akira was certainly very skinny, so skinny that Shigure could easily see his bones under his skin. "So sorry, I almost doomed our family. So sorry, so sorry." Akira mocked, stepping forward a little at a time until he was right in front of Shigure and put a hand on his shoulder, tightening his fingers until Shigure winced in pain. "Do I need to keep you at home, koinu? Should I? Should I put you in the kennel again?"

Shigure didn't try to pull away from Akira, but looked up at the head of his family, frightened. "Please..."

"Yes, the kennel would be a good idea. Teach you to remember. Teach you to keep out of sight." His hand slid off Shigure's shoulder only long enough to grasp his arm and he pulled Shigure away, towards 'the kennel.'

"Please!" Shigure begged, trying to fight back the tears. "Please, I'll be more careful, I promise! It wasn't my fault, I tried to be good!"

Akira paused long enough to slap Shigure across the face before he started again. 

"You let yourself be seen!" Akira yelled suddenly, loudly enough that Shigure was sure people outside the walls of the Souma estate could hear him. "You let the dog be shown for all the world to see and made poor Hatori get sick because of you. You put us all in danger! You deserve to be killed for what you've done!"

There were faces in all the windows of the houses as they passed, Shigure saw them watching with sad or frightened eyes, but not one person moved to help him or protest Akira's actions. Shigure wasn't surprised. Akira ruled his family as all heads of the Souma family had always ruled, ultimately. His word was, literally, law.

Shigure really wasn't even expecting any help, and he wasn't disappointed. Akira led him to a shed that was behind the Main House where the head of the family lived. "NO! Please, please, please!" Shigure begged, beginning to fight against Akira. "I wasn't bad! Don't shut me in again!"

But the door of the shed was opened and Shigure was thrown in. "Bad puppies need to be trained to obey." Akira said ominously as he stepped inside with Shigure. "Bad puppies need to be trained." He pulled a rope that hung on a hook next to the door and wound it around his hands carefully. "I'll have to tie up my bad little puppy until he learns to behave and not embarrass me in public. Sit." Akira giggled at that small joke. "Stay."

Shigure did as he was told. It was embarrassing and terrifying, but Shigure sat on his knees and lowered his head, trying not to whimper. 'Don't cry.' He told himself. Shigure could smell Akira as he got closer and closer, could smell the medications and the soft scent of sickness. 'Don't cry. It won't help. He won't hurt me, not really. He's family and family don't hurt family.'

He kept thinking these thoughts, desperate to keep control of himself even as Akira wrapped the rope around his neck and tied a tight knot. 

'Family don't hurt family. He's sick, he wouldn't do this if he were well. If...'

"There." Akira drew Shigure's attention back to him. "All tied up nice and neat. You'll stay here, puppy, until you learn to behave yourself. I'll check on you in the morning, and if you chew through that rope, I'll rip all your hair out, one strand at a time." Akira slapped Shigure again, but...a dog will only let itself be abused so much.

Almost without thinking, Shigure turned on Akira and sunk his teeth deep into Akira's hand. Akira cried out, wrenching his hand away from Shigure and clutching it to his chest, possessively. "Wretched animal." He sneered.

Shigure, securely tied up, snarled at Akira from where he was crouched on the floor of the shed. He hated this. Hated being tied up and hated being afraid. Akira reached out with his hand again and Shigure snapped at him, missing the hand and biting air with a sharp snap of his teeth. After the miss Shigure lunged again, growling at Akira, but he hadn't realized that Akira tied the rope so short and Shigure ended up nearly choking himself when the rope went taunt. Akira kicked Shigure in the ribs, sending him back into the wall.

"Bad puppy." Akira scolded.

Shigure was dazed and seeing stars when he felt Akira touch his face. He couldn't fight now, couldn't even see properly. Still, Shigure whimpered and jerked away from the almost gentle touch.

"Bad puppy needs to learn not to bite, too."

With that, Akira left Shigure alone in the darkness, tied to the wall like he were a real dog. The slaps hadn't hurt all that much, Shigure had gotten beaten far worse than this in the past. The rope didn't hurt, except that it was a little tight and Shigure was sure he'd have a rope burn in the morning and how was he going to explain that to the teacher? More than anything, it was the humiliation that hurt, being tied up like he really was nothing more than an animal.

'Akira doesn't mean to hurt me, he's sick. He needs to be protected, just like everyone else. I have to be stronger.' Shigure told himself when he could think properly. He huddled himself into a corner and consoled himself by thinking how it wouldn't be to cold tonight and Hatori would give him extra snacks in the morning to make up for his lost dinner. It wasn't likely that Akira would feed him tonight. The darkness around Shigure seemed oppressive, like he could almost feel it's weight against him, but there was a single window in the shed, through which sunlight shone and Shigure took comfort in that light. 'I have to be strong enough to protect everyone. They need me.'

To be continued...

This will be a crossover with Petshop of Horrors, but they'll come in a bit later.


	2. I Love You Best

Petshop of Horrors X-over Fruits Basket  
  
LONG DENIED  
  
Chapter 2: I Love You Best  
  
Four years later- 1986  
  
Dog- Shigure 10 years old  
  
Snake- Ayame 10 years old  
  
Dragon- Hatori 10 years old  
  
Boar- Kagura 2 years old  
  
Horse- Rin 2 years old  
  
Monkey- Ritsu 1 years old  
  
Head of the family- Akito 4 yeas old  
  
Shigure-  
  
It was raining the evening they buried Toma.  
  
Shigure stood alone at the gravesite, before anyone else had arrived and stared at Toma's body. The ten-year-old Shigure didn't bother to wrap his coat tighter around himself, he just let the rain pour down on him and lay his black hair down flat. He didn't even care enough to brush the hair out of his eyes. Toma was dead.   
  
Toma was to be buried in the place where all the cats were buried over the years, a simple field, spotted with small mounds of earth that were the only marker that there was a grave underneath. 'It's not fair.' Shigure scowled blackly. Toma's coffin was under a protective pavilion, to make sure the coffin didn't fill with water in the ran, the adults had all seemed very insistent that it must be an open coffin ceremony, though they wouldn't tell Shigure why. Just that it was tradition.   
  
"'Gure?" Shigure was startled out of his dark thoughts when Ayame took his hand, a strangely surreal expression of seriousness on his face. "How are you feeling?" Ayame? Sneaking up on someone? Now there was a miracle. It was the first time in his memory that Shigure could remember Ayame being quite enough to sneak up on him. The normally outrageous snake was dressed in a somber black suit, holding a black umbrella to protect him from the early evening's down pouring rain. It looked so odd to see Ayame in a suit, let alone one of plain black. It just didn't suit him.   
  
"Me?" Shigure plastered a bright smile on his face. "I'm just fine. Why do you ask? Isn't it a lovely rainy night? We'll have a rainbow in the morning. I suppose we'll all catch cold from the rain, too, though."  
  
"Stop it." Hatori said flatly, coming to stand on Shigure's other side. "You don't have to do that. We know you're sad." Hatori was dressed almost identically to Ayame, including the umbrella, and it occurred to Shigure that Hatori had probably lent the suit and umbrella to Ayame. It was something that Hatori was likely to do, anyway.  
  
But Shigure didn't let the smile off his face as he turned back to the open coffin under the pavilion. "If I don't smile, I'll cry and Toma hated to see me cry. Isn't it bad enough that it's raining? He hated the rain. Always said it made him depressed and he had to stay in bed instead of in his garden because he got so weak. I think I'll smile today. I want to smile for Toma."  
  
Ayame's hand tightened around Shigure's and Shigure found his other hand taken by Hatori.  
  
"Everyone's coming." Ayame announced softly just before the adults started to file around Toma's home to the small clearing that was used as a second graveyard. Shigure turned slightly to watch his family walk around the corner of Toma's house. He loved them all, he really did, but Shigure just couldn't understand them.  
  
The older members of the family led in the three youngest members of the family, Rin, Kagura, and Ritsu. Ritsu, always eager to please, was the one year old monkey while Kagura, the overly emotional piglet, and Rin the horse with a bad disposition, were two years old. They were to young to understand what had happened, but it was tradition that all living members of the Zodiac were to attend funerals. After everyone had come and stood before the coffin, Shigure was still smiling, trying desperately to keep the tears back.   
  
Yahiko the ox with white and black hair, was a young man, barely a few years older than Shigure. He gave Shigure a compassionate look. Yahiko rarely spoke, he often times didn't even come to the Main House, unless ordered to by the head of the family.   
  
"Shigure." Yahiko said softly, keeping his eyes on Toma's coffin.  
  
"Yahiko." Shigure answered, trying to keep his voice light. "It's been a long time, hasn't it? Where've you been all this time? Do you still go to high school?"  
  
Yahiko just shrugged and Shigure knew the ox would say nothing else.  
  
Euiko, the sharp-eyed sheep, came in next. She was older than most of the other Zodiac members, a lady who held herself as a proud, noble lady should. She was dressed elegantly and, unlike Yahiko, had no problems speaking her mind. "Shigure," Her voice was loud and clear, but there was little compassion from her. "I'm sorry for your pain, but I still think you wasted it on Toma." The look she gave the coffin was anything but kind. "He's been waiting to die for a long time. He should have died years ago. Now we'll just have to wait around for a new cat...a new waste of space." She moved away from Shigure and Shigure was grateful. He didn't want to say anything to upset his great-aunt Euiko, but he wanted so badly to hit her.   
  
"Don't let it get to you." Sho, the gentle tempered tiger, said, moving up on Ayame's other side. "The pain will pass." Sho was perhaps the most even-tempered person Shigure had ever met. He drifted though life trying not to draw attention to himself, but also not really trying to do anything. He was middle aged and content with a minimum wage job and never even tried to make any intimate friends.  
  
Shigure realized suddenly, that most of the people in his family were very old. 'The rest of them will die soon.' Shigure didn't like this cold thought, but it was also a very serious thought. 'What happens when the rest of them die?' He looked at Ayame and Hatori out of the corner of his eyes and then drifted to little Kagura and Rin and baby Ritsu. 'We'll be the oldest ones. We'll have to take care of everyone.'  
  
Last of all came Junko, the rat, in her finest kimono, holding little Akito by the hand. Akito, the head of the family, was only four, but he'd been dressed up like he was the emperor or something. It was almost ridiculous to see frail little Akito weighted down by so many layers of clothes that he could barely walk. He was pale and tired looking just trying to get to the coffin to do his duty.  
  
"He shouldn't be carrying so much weight." Hatori muttered half under his breath. "It's not good for him."  
  
Lately, Shigure had noticed, Hatori had become increasingly interested about the health of his family members and how the curse affects their bodies. Shigure had even found Hatori trying to read an old medical book he'd found somewhere and teased Hatori about becoming a doctor one-day. It hadn't escaped Shigure's attention that Hatori still kept up his interest and he wondered if maybe Hatori really would choose to be a doctor.  
  
Ayame had his arm around Shigure's shoulders and even Hatori was holding Shigure's hand. It didn't help.   
  
This wasn't the first time Shigure had seen death, but this time he couldn't stop the pain he felt. The first death he'd seen had been that of Akira and Shigure hadn't been able to feel any grief at the passing of the previous head of the family.  
  
The funeral was brief, everyone wanting to get away as quickly as possible. Shigure didn't like the way everyone treated this as something shameful and to be forgotten as quickly as possible.   
  
Really, the funeral was a ceremony that always had to be taken care of, or so Shigure had been told. It was to show everyone the danger of the cat and Shigure wanted to see it. He never had understood why everyone hated the cat, so maybe this would make it more clearly. Why would anyone fear gentle Toma?  
  
Akito led the ceremony after being told by Junko to stand in front of the coffin and say what he'd been taught. Junko held an umbrella over Akito's head to protect him from the rain. With his frail health, it would be all to easy for Akito to get sick again. It seemed strange to see the small grey haired child almost drowning in the bright colored formal robes.  
  
"We are here to put the cat to rest." Akito said, reciting what he had been taught to say. Everything in the Souma family was tradition and ritual, even burials and Shigure knew that Akito probably didn't even know what he was saying. "His life was long and he lived it as well as a cat could hope to. We wish Toma a safe journey in whatever comes after this life, even as we wait for the spirit of the cat to return to us in another form." Akito turned to the coffin and stood on his tip-toes, reaching into the coffin.   
  
It wasn't hard to see Akito's hand shaking with fright as he reached for the dead man and Shigure didn't blame the little boy. He'd be scared to touch a dead person, too. Stranger still, Shigure thought, was that all the adults around him tensed all of a sudden. Ayame and Hatori didn't seem to notice anything, but Shigure glanced around quickly and saw the odd sight of everyone holding their breaths. 'They smell like fear.' Shigure thought, sniffing the air.  
  
Akito was still speaking and Shigure turned his attention back to the four-year-old. "I take the seal, the bracelet that keeps the monster from us..." Akito grabbed the black and white beaded bracelet and started to pull. "And the next cat to be born will be given..." Akito stopped speaking the moment he pulled the bracelet off Toma's stiff hand. "Ahhhhhhhh!!!" Akito screamed, terrified. He fell backwards, clutching the bracelet in his hand and would have fallen if Shigure hadn't sprung forward to catch him. Akito kept screaming, even when he held onto Shigure and buried his little face in Shigure's neck. "Get me away! I don't want to see it! Get me away!"   
  
Toma turned into a monster.  
  
Shigure held little Akito tightly as he struggled and fought to get away from what Toma had become. Shigure couldn't take his eyes away from Toma. With hissing and smoke rising from his skin, Toma transformed into...into something so hideous Shigure didn't even know what to call him. It certainly wasn't a cat. With dark green skin that shone like polished stone, Toma was hideous and no kindness could deny that fact.  
  
'So,' Shigure thought, numbly as Junko tried to take Akito from Shigure. 'This is what everyone's been afraid of.'  
  
Junko whispered comfortingly to Akito, gently stroking his hair. "Hush, little master. It's all right. He's dead, he can't hurt you. It's just Toma. You remember Toma, he gave you ribbon candy on your birthday. He wouldn't hurt you."  
  
Akito, still sobbing hysterically into Shigure's chest, finally allowed himself to be comforted. He walked away, hand-in-hand with Junko after being told that he'd have to go right to bed or all the excitement would make him ill again.  
  
After that, most of the family silently, and gratefully, left.  
  
Shigure hadn't left the grave site with the rest of the family. He stayed in the pouring rain and just stared at the simple head stone.   
  
SOUMA TOMA-CAT  
  
That was all it said and there was so much more than just his form to him. He was a father and a grandfather and a great friend. He'd been a horse racer when he was younger and loved to ride in hot air balloons. It was just such a...pity.  
  
Shigure wasn't crying, he refused to. Toma hated it when Shigure cried. It was just the rain running down his face, really. 'I won't cry. I won't.' But Shigure's will power, something he'd always been proud of, faltered in the rain. Not a single person had cried for Toma. Not a single tear had been shed at his funeral except for Akito's tears of fear.  
  
Original form. Shigure was just beginning to understand what that meant. He'd heard it often in the family, but he'd never asked Toma.   
  
'Original form of what? If he turns into an orange cat when he's hugged by a girl, then what is the monster? Original means it'll turn into something else. I wonder what? Why would the cat have a third form when the rest of us have only two? Why would a bracelet hide the original form? It just doesn't make any sense.' In the cool moonlight, Shigure stood pondering all these questions he still had no answers for. 'What was the original form? Why were they cursed? When did all this start? To many questions and I still don't have enough answers.'  
  
It was still raining, but Shigure didn't care. He was angry. His friend's funeral didn't seem nearly long enough to be properly respectful, but Shigure really couldn't blame Akito for that. Akito was only four, he was practically still a baby. Everyone else though...Shigure felt a surge of bitterness. 'They all knew.' He remembered the reactions of the adults when Akito pulled off Toma's bracelet. 'They knew it was going to happen and they didn't warn Akito? Did they want him to have an anxiety attack? He could have died.'   
  
"'Gure?" Ayame asked when Shigure showed no signs of moving from his spot next to Toma's grave.   
  
"I thought you'd both left." Shigure said, not turning away from the grave. He didn't need to turn around to know that Hatori was with Ayame, they were usually together and, while Shigure was very close with both of them, he had to admit that those two had a special bond he didn't share. He loved them dearly, but somehow, Ayame and Hatori understood each other in a way no one else could. Besides that, Shigure could smell Hatori. Strange, lately it seemed that his sense of smell was getting better and better and Shigure wondered if the others had similar talents thanks to their Zodiac animal. He wondered if Hatori was a good swimmer or if Ayame could taste the smells in the air like Shigure smelled them.  
  
"Not yet." Hatori answered, moving to hold his umbrella over Shigure's head. "We wanted to see if you were all right."  
  
Shigure answered honestly. "I don't like this." He gestured around at Toma's so-called final resting-place. "He isn't even allowed to be buried in the main family plot. It isn't fair."  
  
As always, Hatori was the voice of reason. "Nothing is fair and Toma knew that. He was the cat and they aren't allowed to be buried with the rest of the family. The decision isn't ours to make. You asked Akito to change the rules and he said no. We can't do anything else."  
  
"Akito's only four," Shigure protested. "He doesn't understand what Toma went though all his life and it wasn't Akito's decision, anyway. The other adults told him not to change the rules. I want to change that."  
  
Ayame looked shocked at Shigure's words. "Change? But, 'Gure, why? This is the way our family has always been and it always will be. The cat is always the outcast."  
  
"Why?" Shigure demanded with sudden fervor. "Why should the cat be cast out? Toma was a good man, a very good man. He was smart and a good cook and he liked to paint and he told me stories of when he was little and he used to be a champion runner in his school. There's so much no one knows about him just because he was the cat and no one would talk to him. It...It's just a waste." Shigure let his voice drop when he realized he was very close to making Ayame cry. "Sorry. I didn't mean to yell."  
  
"You shouldn't worry." Ayame said, putting his arm around Shigure. "They say," Ayame started softly, a sign that he was being strangely serious. "That the dog is the guardian of the family. I heard Junko say that once. She said the dog is always the guardian of the family and its your instincts make it want to protect everyone." He looked at Shigure with curious golden eyes. "Are you trying to protect the cat, 'Gure? He's dead, but there will be another one. Tomorrow we'll all hear the news about who's pregnant and we'll know who the mother of the next cat will be. Will you protect that cat?"  
  
Shigure remembered his promise to Toma and was saddened he hadn't been able to keep it. "Yes. I want to make sure we're all together. We're all family, even the cat."  
  
"It's your birthday tomorrow, 'Gure. Try to think happier thoughts. I don't like you sounding so sad." Hatori whispered and Shigure could see the pain in Hatori's eyes. There was a lot that had happened to Hatori in his life that he'd kept to himself, things his father had done to him that he never wanted anyone to know about. It seemed that Hatori had gotten it into his head long ago that if he wasn't allowed to be happy, then he should do his best to make sure everyone else was happy. When he couldn't fix what was wrong for people, Hatori felt guilty and that was the last thing Shigure wanted to do.  
  
"I don't think I can help it." Shigure answered.  
  
Ayame didn't like anyone being sad, either. "I know," He smiled brightly. "We're all soaking wet, let's go take a hot bath." He slipped his arm around Shigure's waist and gave him a pull. "Come on, I'll wash your back for you, 'Gure."  
  
The bathhouse was one of the best places on the estate, in Shigure's opinion. Even this late at night, it was still open. For Akito, mainly, it was always open and the water was always hot. Shigure had been told that the hot baths were good for Akito's fragile health and he had to have access to it any time of the night or day. Shigure loved the hot water and was the first one out of his clothes, dropping them on the tiled floor before he dove jumped into the calming, steamy water. The grief threatening to overwhelm Shigure was still with him and he doubted it would ever leave, but the warmth and the water did lessen the sadness somewhat and Shigure was glad Ayame had suggested this.  
  
Ayame followed him, exhilarated by the heat after such a cold, dreary night, and he almost didn't have time to take off his clothes before he splashed into the water after Shigure. Last of all was Hatori. Hatori didn't like the bathhouse and the fact that he'd come at all proved how worried he was about Shigure. In fact, knowing how much Hatori disliked the bathhouse, it was odd that Ayame had suggested it at all.  
  
After he'd taken his pants off, Hatori sat on the edge of the bath and just dangled his legs in, with his unbuttoned shirt still on.  
  
"This is supposed to be fun!" Ayame yelled as he splashed water at Shigure, gleefully. He was determined to raise Shigure's feels and Shigure didn't want to disappoint Ayame, so he splashed back and soon, despite himself, was soon lost in the childish pleasure of play. In a moment of mischief, Shigure saw Hatori watching them with a patient look on his face, but still not joining in.   
  
"Hari!" Shigure called, "Come play!" If he was going to have fun then so should Hatori.  
  
"No, I think I'll just watch." Hatori said, not moving from where he was.  
  
"Awwwwww!" Shigure whined, purposely trying to irritate Hatori into giving in. It worked so often, so why not now? "Please, Hari, please play." He cupped his hands in the water and splashed Hatori. Hatori raised an arm to block the water, but it did little good and he was soaked. Ayame got into the act and went to Hatori, who was wiping water out of his eyes, and grabbed Hatori by the led.  
  
"You're all ready wet," Ayame said in a sing-son voice. "Come in, come in!"  
  
"Aya!" Hatori snapped, fighting against Ayame. "Let go, I don't want to! Aya!"   
  
Ayame was deaf to Hatori's shouts and, with Shigure grabbed Hatori's other leg, they pulled him into the water before dunking him under.  
  
When Hatori came up for air, he looked very undignified and gasped for air like a fish out of water. "You idiots." He grumbled, though he didn't sound terribly angry and Ayame and Shigure laughed together. It was the bruise that stopped Shigure from laughing.  
  
"Hari, where'd you get that?" Shigure went to Hatori and put his hand on Hatori's wrist. Because of Hatori's shirt, it hadn't been visible before, but the shirtsleeve had raised up Hatori's arm and the bruise was in plain sight.   
  
Hatori looked down at the bruise, but didn't answer right away. It was a new bruise and couldn't have been more than a day or so old. The scars that ran up Hatori's arm were nothing new, the tangible evidence of a short period in Hatori's life when he'd tried to take his own life, but the bruise was new.  
  
"I suppose it must have been an accident." Hatori said softly and he made his way to the edge of the bath and lifted himself out. Once again he sat where he'd been before he'd been pulled in and he sat there as if nothing had happened.  
  
"An accident?" Ayame said in disbelief as he stared at Hatori. "You don't have accidents like that, Hari. Tell me." He went to Hatori and put himself directly in front of Hatori, his hands on both of Hatori's knees and looking imploringly into Hatori's eyes. "Please?"  
  
At first reluctant, Hatori had never been able to deny Ayame and he'd never been a good liar. "Mother...she was angry a few nights ago. It's nothing."  
  
There was very little Shigure or Ayame could say to that, they were speechless. "You...your mom?" Shigure asked, with wide eyes. He still lived with Hatori and his mom every other week and he'd never seen anything other than a kind, loving mother in her. "Why?"  
  
Hatori shrugged. "She gets angry sometimes. So, Shigure," He said, quickly changing the subject. "Are you feeling better, now?"  
  
"I suppose so." Shigure lied. Unlike Hatori and Ayame, Shigure was a very good liar. "I'll be all right, I just needed a distraction and this was a great one. Thanks, guys."  
  
In a gesture that was more like something Ayame would do, Hatori surprised Shigure. He reached forward and hugged Shigure. "Don't lie to me, Shigure. Please, cry. Cry and let me know I don't have to worry about you tonight."  
  
Shigure tried to push away from Hatori, but Hatori was stronger than he looked and held Shigure tightly. "No. I won't let you go, Shigure. I won't let you hurt all alone."  
  
"I'm not hurt." Shigure insisted. He stopped trying to pull free when he realized how determined Hatori was about this. "Really. A friend died, so I'm sad. I'll live. It'll get better." Shigure wished that Hatori wasn't hugging him and that Ayame wasn't rubbing his back. They were to close and it was hard to be strong like this, hard to be cheerful when everyone thought he should be sad. When everyone thought he hurt. 'I don't need to cry, Toma would hate it if I cried. I can be strong, I can do this, I...I...'  
  
"We love you, Shigure." Ayame whispered. "You don't have to pretend around us."  
  
"I'm not pretending." Shigure stubbornly insisted. "I don't have to weep and moan, I'm fine." He couldn't add to Hatori's pain by crying in front of him. Shigure loved Hatori to much to do that to him, that would just be cruel. "I'll see you both later." Shigure pulled away suddenly, managing to get away from Hatori and smiling at them. "I need to go out for a bit."  
  
"Where are you going?" Ayame asked.  
  
"Just out for a run."  
  
They both seemed to understand and didn't protest when Shigure got out of the bath, pulling his pants on without even bothering to dry himself. He started walking out without a backwards glance, knowing if he did he might break down. He couldn't do that. Hatori needed a good cry himself and he'd be more likely to do that with just Ayame, he didn't need Shigure around.  
  
The estate was silent, so late at night. Most all of the houses were dark, except for Akito's house, which had all the lights on and even from a distance, Shigure could see people moving around inside the house. It was always like that, always busy and noisy, as if the little house never slept. Shigure couldn't help but feel sorry for Akito and wondered how Junko would be able to get Akito to sleep with all the noise.  
  
Outside the estate, after climbing over one of the high walls, Shigure found himself on the edge of a dark forest, seeming darker for the lack of moonlight. Shigure waited by the wall of the estate for a moment, but he knew they were close. 'I know you're out there.' Shigure thought. 'Come on. I'm waiting for you.' Slowly, as if unconsciously, Shigure began to slip into the other way of thinking. He wasn't sure if all the Zodiac members could feel similar things to what he felt, but Shigure loved canines, not only dogs. They had a different way of thinking.  
  
They came then, appearing out of the forest like magic, simply appearing, and their eyes shone at him.  
  
Wolves.  
  
Shigure walked forward, towards them and greeted the alpha male by getting onto his hands and knees and nuzzling the elder wolf's muzzle. "It's been a long time." He said out loud. They were a pack of nearly twelve, a fair sized pack, and had long ago welcomed Shigure as one of them. "I want to hunt tonight."   
  
They turned then, and ran. Shigure ran after them, leaving the Souma Estate behind as his mind slipped into the hunt thought of the wolf. These were the hunters, Shigure knew, and what they killed tonight would be food for the young and would let the pack live. Shigure was one of the pack.  
  
The wolf thought was forgetting. The past didn't matter, the future didn't matter. Only the now, only running and feeding, only the safety of the pack. Shigure lost himself in the now, letting himself forget everything that had happened and forgetting the pain that was to much for him. He could feel the blood pounding in his ears, his sight blurring as he relied more on his nose than his eyes. Eyes were useless in this darkness. At one point, Shigure became so lost in the wolf way, that he dropped to all fours, running faster in the inhuman gait and ignored the tiny pain of acorns and stones under his hands and his bare feet. None of that mattered. He was one of them.  
  
Shigure forgot all the sadness as he ran, keeping up with the wolves easily as they darted between the trees and caught the scent of prey on the wind. It was a deer, Shigure knew and he could practically taste the meat in his mouth. At a signal from the alpha male, the pack stopped and spread out around the area where the deer was grazing. Shigure obeyed the alpha male's orders as if he were just any other wolf, crouching down low next to a female he'd known since she was a small cub.   
  
It was a good kill. All of the hunters attacked at once and killed the deer almost before it realized that it was in danger, which was just the way it should be. After it was over, Shigure sat amongst the wolves, absently chewing on his share of the kill. Though a good part of the kill would be taken back to the cubs, the hunters would feed first. Shigure leaned against the female he'd run with, letting her lick the blood from his fingers before he picked another small piece of meat from the leg he shared with her. For some reason, Shigure had always been closest to this one, she even seemed fond of him in return. A beautiful tawny creature, the wolf female always ran with him when he came to the pack. At one point, Shigure put his arm around her muscular neck and leaned over far enough that he could lap the blood from her muzzle.  
  
Now that the hunt was over and Shigure was full of the meat he'd helped to bring down, he started to come back to the human way of thinking. He wondered if Toma had ever hunted with the big cats.  
  
The grief back, Shigure knew he could freely release his pain, without fear of anyone seeing him. Amidst the pack, Shigure raised his face to the sky and let out a howl. It was a low, moaning sound, pitiful compared to the wolfsong, but it was as close as Shigure had ever been able to come. He didn't stop the tears now, but let them run freely down his face as he took a deep breath and let out another howl of pain, putting his heart and soul into the mournful sound.  
  
The female lapped at Shigure's cheeks, tasting his tears, before she also raised her voice to join his. She felt none of his pain, but it was the wolf way. When one mourned, the whole pack grieved. Soon after the female joined her song to Shigure's, the rest of the pack followed. Soon, the forest was filled with the song of pain.  
  
Shigure returned to the estate when his pain was satisfied and he no longer feared he would cry in front of Hatori or Ayame. It was late, though, and Shigure was sure they'd both left the bathhouse. After midnight, if Shigure was guessing right. Strangely, Hatori and Ayame were both waiting for him, now fully dressed and waiting outside the bathhouse.   
  
"We just wanted to see that you made it back all right." Hatori looked at Shigure closely before he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped at Shigure's mouth. "You have blood all over your mouth again. You'll upset everyone if they find out what you do at night."   
  
Shigure laughed. "You always worry to much, Hari. You two should go home."   
  
"Actually," Ayame said with uncommon determination as he shot a pointed look at Hatori. "Hari's going to sleep at my house tonight. Do you want to come and we'll make it a sleep over?" Ayame had apparently not forgotten the bruise on Hatori's wrist and didn't like it. He wasn't willing to let Hatori out of his sight, yet. "It's your birthday tomorrow, so we should do something fun. We'll stay up all night and make popcorn and then we'll paint each other's nails."  
  
Hatori winced. "Must we?"  
  
"Yes!" Ayame said firmly as he hooked his arm in Hatori's. "Shigure, are you coming?"  
  
A new voice joined the conversation. "You come with me, Shigure."  
  
Shigure, Ayame, and Hatori all looked at the voice at the same time and saw Akito looking at them. He was ghost-like, really. Far to fragile looking to be real, as if he were some ethereal spirit come to Earth.   
  
Akito was very cute for a child, and Shigure found himself liking Akito very much. He wasn't anything like Shigure remembered Akira, though he did have mood swings. Shigure was, in fact, very fond of Akito.  
  
Because he was so sick, Akito was rarely outside and it seemed odd to see him here, especially in the still drizzling rain. "What can I do for you, Akito?" Shigure asked pleasantly. Akito deserved all the respect Shigure could give him, just as Toma had taught Shigure long ago. After all, it was Akito who bore the real curse. Akito was the one who would die...  
  
"I want you to walk me home." Akito walked to Shigure and held out his hand as if there was no question that he would get what he wanted. He sneered at Ayame and Hatori, though. "You two, go home. We don't need you. I wanna talk with Shigure."  
  
Shigure obediently took Akito's cold little hand and told his friends. "I'll see you tomorrow, then? Will you come to see my new house? I'll have a cake and everything."  
  
"Of course!" Ayame practically sang, suddenly over his serious mood. "I'll be there with bells! Wouldn't miss your birthday for the world, 'Gure, darling!"   
  
"Oh, Aya!" Shigure sang back, in a lighthearted voice. "I knew you loved me!" He was glad he'd gone out with the wolves. It was so much easier to happy, now that he'd howled away the sadness. The pain of Toma's death would never go away, Shigure knew, but at least now it wasn't suffocating him.  
  
Hatori merely nodded coolly and gave Shigure a tiny smile before he started walking away with Ayame. Then Hatori seemed to think of something and he came back, handing Shigure his umbrella. "Akito might get sick in this rain." Then he went back to Ayame and they shared Ayame's umbrella as they continued. It wasn't an unusual scene, the two friends were rarely parted.  
  
"Do you love me, Shigure?" Akito asked as soon as Hatori and Ayame were out of hearing range. "Do you love me as much as you love Ayame and Hatori?"  
  
"Yes." The answer was easy and Shigure didn't even have to think about it. They started walking away, back to Akito's house.  
  
"Why? Is it because you have to?" Akito demanded, pulling on Shigure's hand as hard as he could to make sure he had Shigure's attention. "Do you love me because I'm the head of the family and you have to be good to me? Is it because I'm dying for you?"  
  
"I think I love you because I do." It was the best answer Shigure could give, but even he wasn't sure it made any sense. He was more than a little surprised to hear that Akito knew he was dying. Why would anyone tell that to a little kid like Akito?  
  
"You all belong to me, you know." Akito said suddenly changing the subject. "You and Ayame and Hatori and everyone else. All the Souma's belong to me." His little hand tightened around Shigure's possessively. "I don't want you do like the cat. I want you to only like me. The cat's ugly."  
  
"You can't stop me from liking who I want to." Shigure smiled down at Akito, also tightening is hand. "That's just silly. Besides, Toma couldn't help what he looked like."  
  
"I can!" Akito protested, raising his voice, petulantly. "Everyone says I'm the head of the family and the head of the family can do anything!"  
  
"How?" Shigure asked, unable to stop his grin. "Will you beat me? If you do, I'll just run away and I won't come back. I'll go to Australia and live with kangaroos." He giggled at the thought. "Perhaps I'll go live in Antarctica with the penguins."  
  
"You're making fun of me." Akito scowled darkly at Shigure and stopped walking. "I hate you."  
  
"Yes. I suppose you might. Look, there's your house." Shigure swung Akito up onto his back, carrying him the rest of the way, making sure that the umbrella stayed over Akito. "You shouldn't be out alone at night. You might get hurt or sick again. Did you even tell Junko where you were going?"   
  
"I don't have to tell anyone anything." Akito said. "It's my estate, I can go anywhere I like." Then he leaned his head on Shigure's cheek and Shigure felt the warmth of Akito's skin and knew he was getting a fever again. He'd have to get him home fast.  
  
After that, they walked in silence until Shigure began to hear the voices from inside Akito's house. The loud voices of the servants and all the other people who wanted to speak with Akito for one reason or another, most of them wanting something from Akito.  
  
Akito tightened his arms around Shigure's neck. "I don't want to go back. I hate the noise." Akito whispered. "It's always so loud in there. I can't even hear the birds singing in the garden."  
  
"Do you want me to make them go away?"  
  
"Will you?" The hopeful note in Akito's voice was almost pitiful, sounding more like a child than he had since he'd started walking with Shigure.  
  
"Sure. I love you, remember?" And so he did. When Shigure slammed open the door of the house and was confronted by the many people who, for one reason or another, had been looking for Akito and wanted to speak to him, he smiled broadly. "You'll all have to leave now, terribly sorry."  
  
There was a general mutter of surprised complaint from all the adults, but Shigure kept on smiling. He knew where the power in the family lay and it wasn't with any of these people. Not a single one of them was cursed, except for a very old woman who sat peacefully in a corner of the living room, working on some delicate piece of needlepoint.  
  
"Shigure, what are you doing up so late?" One of the adults asked, complaint in his voice that showed he didn't like Shigure putting his nose where it didn't belong.  
  
Shigure met the man's eyes, recognizing him as an uncle on his father's side. "I've brought the head of my family home and now he needs to go to bed, he's got a fever. All of you leave. Good-bye. So long. Nice to see you. Ciao. Adios. Don't let the door hit you on butt on the way out!" He waved cheerfully with one hand while supporting Akito's slight weight with the other hand.  
  
"No, see here, young man..." One of the visitors began.  
  
Akito flared to live and he stiffed, gripping Shigure's shoulders tightly. "GET OUT! ALL OF YOU OUT! YOU LISTEN WHEN SHIGURE TALKS TO YOU! I LOVE HIM MORE THAN YOU! OUT! OUT! OUT!"  
  
They couldn't disobey the head of the family, so, one-by-one, they all filed out of the house until all that was left was the little old woman, working on her sewing.  
  
"See," Shigure smiled over his shoulder at Akito. "That wasn't so hard, now was it? Just assert yourself a little and they'll listen. I don't think you really have to yell, though."  
  
Akito sleepily yawned at Shigure and Shigure laughed. "I think that means it's bed time, Akito-chan. Down you go." He went to the little old woman who, smiling, set aside her needlepoint work and held her arms out for Akito.   
  
"Come here, my little one." The little old woman whispered. "I've been worried about you, Akito-chan. You shouldn't stay out on rainy nights, you know it's not good for you."  
  
Akito willingly went to her and, when securely in her lap, he nuzzled in close to her and let the old woman kiss his forehead. "Sorry, Junko-san. I wanted to see Shigure." Akito loved Junko as if she were his mother, he simply adored her and would do anything she asked, despite what he said about being able to do anything he pleased.  
  
Akito's nanny was the rat of the family. Her grey hair had always been grey, just as everyone cursed by the rat has grey hair from the moment they're born, and Shigure had been told that the violet eyed old woman had been a rare beauty in her youth. Even now, at her advanced age, there were still the traces of her beauty left.  
  
"Will you put him to bed, Shigure, dear?" Junko asked. "It takes so long for me to get up once I sit down, he'll be asleep long before I can tuck him in."  
  
"Sure, Junko-san." Shigure replied. He and Akito went to Akito's elaborate bedroom. It was really more suited for royalty than a child, Shigure thought as he helped Akito to get undressed and into dry pajamas before covering him up with thick, warm blankets.   
  
"Shigure?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Will you stay with me always?" Akito's eyes were starting to close and one of his little hands pulled the blanket up to his chin.  
  
Shigure laughed. "You're being silly again. I have to go to college someday, so I have to go away for a while. I'll come back, though."  
  
"Don't leave me." Akito yawned, yet again, and his eyes began to drift closed. "You're better than anyone else here. You don't treat me different, like I'm going to break if I fall down."  
  
"We're all different, Akito-chan." Shigure told him.  
  
"But I'm more different. You and Junko, I don't want to lose you. I love you two best."  
  
"I don't want to leave my family, Akito." Shigure told the sleepy child honestly. He sat down and started to rub Akito's hair with soft, soothing motions. "Even if I do go away, I'll always come back if you need me."  
  
Akito said nothing for a long time and Shigure was beginning to think that the child had fallen asleep. Akito spoke again, though. "I feel so weak, Shigure."  
  
"Maybe if you went out to play more, you'd feel better." Shigure suggested. "A little sunshine wouldn't hurt you, you know. You're far to pale and little boys shouldn't stay inside so much."  
  
"Will you take me to the park on your birthday?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Promise?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Shigure was leaving, after being certain that Akito was fast asleep, when he saw Junko waiting for him at the front door of Akito's house. She was now the oldest of the cursed since Toma had died. "I'm dying, Shigure." She told him, bluntly.  
  
"Yes." Shigure answered. "I know." Even if he didn't like it. He'd known the moment he'd walked into Akito's house when he'd caught the scent of death. It was the same scent he'd smelled on Akira and on Toma, just days before the old cat had died. Toma had been the only member of the family who knew how good Shigure's sense of smell was, only he knew that Shigure could smell things like death and fear and hate.  
  
"When Toma died, I knew my time would be coming soon." Junko continued, staring out at her garden. It was really Akito's garden, but since she was raising him, she spent all her time there and worked hard to make her garden the most beautiful on the entire estate. "I can feel the years pressing down on me, but I don't want to leave my Akito-chan. I remember what his predecessor had to go through."  
  
Shigure didn't like the idea of Akito becoming like Akira. "Are you sure? Akira was so...evil. Akito's nothing like him."  
  
"You didn't know Akira in his youth, Shigure-chan. He was a sweet child and as kind as any mother would wish her child to be. As he aged, his mind began to slip and it will happen to Akito, too. Akito-chan will start to go mad, if it hasn't all ready started. I've noticed his short temper lately and his he spends hours staring at the birds." She sighed tiredly. "Promise me, Shigure, promise me you'll always look out for him." She looked at Shigure with eyes that were suddenly becoming distant and watery. "I...I know it'll be hard, but I don't want him to be alone."  
  
"Junko," Shigure said softly. "I...I'm not strong enough to do this. I'm just a kid."  
  
"No, you're the dog."   
  
Why did that seem so important to everyone? Even Toma commented on it, but had never explained. Shigure wished he'd been able to know what the previous dog had been like.   
  
"You are stronger than you can imagine and you'll find that strength when your family needs you the most." Junko sighed again and suddenly looked a lot older.   
  
"But what if I fail them?" The thought of doing something wrong and hurting anyone in his family, especially Hatori, Ayame, or Akito, frightened Shigure.  
  
"You must not. Our family is sick, Shigure. It isn't just Akito, it's all of us. Look around, when you see your family next. Ayame is vain and self-centered, pampered and spoiled. He'll loose something dear to him and he won't realize it until it's to late. Hatori can barely stand talking to people, his shyness verges on a phobia. He never smiles and will obey almost any order given to him because of what his father did to him and what his mother does to him. Yes, I know she isn't treating him well. The others will follow, Kagura and Rin and all the others who will come after us old folks die. Our family is injured, a cycle of pain that never ends. We need to be protected from ourselves." She reached out and fondly touched his face. "Whatever happens, don't abandon Akito."  
  
Shigure couldn't refuse. How could anyone? "I'll do my best." Shigure promised.   
  
The next morning-  
  
Shigure woke up on the morning of his tenth birthday to the sun shining. He was sleeping in his own house, the house of the dog. After leaving Junko the previous night, Shigure had gone to what was his birthright and slept on the floor of the bare, dusty house. It didn't feel lonely, though. Shigure knew that, with time, he could have a beautiful house and he could have Ayame and Hatori stay with him, if he wanted to.  
  
With a yawn, Shigure sat up and ran a hand through his hair after stretching, his muscles aching after sleeping on the floor.   
  
"Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me..." Shigure smiled, remembering that this would be the night where he, Ayame, and Hatori all got together for a party. Of course, there would be the customary family party, but after that had ended, Shigure and his two best friends would get to stay up all night and do almost anything they liked. They did the same thing for everyone's birthday, though Hatori didn't really like to party all that much. He didn't even like ice cream, for goodness sakes! "Happy birthday, dear Shigure! Happy birthday to me!"  
  
On the last note, Shigure jumped up and remembered a promise Toma had made him long ago. He must have slept only a few hours, it had been so late when he'd gotten back from the hunt and the sun was only just rising now. Shigure knew he'd pay for no sleep later and he vaguely knew he should take a midday nap if he wanted to stay up late for his own birthday party.   
  
'A present!' Shigure thought, running out of his house and jumping down off the porch before bolting for Toma's house. He felt a stab of sadness when he remembered Toma, but it wasn't nearly so bad as the night before. 'Toma said I could have the present on my tenth birthday.'  
  
He found the box tied with string just where Toma had said it would be, in the closet in the corner of Toma's living room. The empty house would be closed up soon, Shigure knew, for the next cat to be born. Right there on the floor, Shigure couldn't help his impatience and untied the string as quickly as he could. What he found inside wasn't to surprising, considering Toma's love of books. It was a dusty old book that looked like it had a real leather cover. On top of the book was a letter.  
  
~ Dear Shigure-chan. If I'm dead, I wanted you to know that the dog before you were born gave this to me and asked me to give it to you. I haven't read it, nor has anyone else seen it. In fact, no one but you knows this book even exists. This is a family treasure, but I was told that no one but the dog should know what's inside. If others were to know certain information about us, especially the head of the family, we would all be in great danger. It is your decision whether or not to reveal this information, but think carefully on it first. Please, read this book as quickly and thoroughly as possible.   
  
Be happy, my little friend. You showed me kindness no one else would. I wish you all the happiness you deserve.   
  
Love, Toma.~   
  
Now confused and a little awed by the solemn letter, Shigure took the book out of the box. It was harder than he'd thought and Shigure actually had to strain to get the huge book out of the box. It fell on the floor with a thud that sent dust from its ancient pages flying up in the air.  
  
Shigure opened book and was surprised to find that the first page wasn't words, but a drawing of a very beautiful person. The ink had faded over the years, but it was still a very visible picture. The person had perfect features and a face so stunning that Shigure paused a moment to admire it. It couldn't possibly be a real person, no human could be that beautiful. Under the picture, though, destroying the mood of the picture, were large, bold words: BEWARE THIS MAN!   
  
Shigure turned the page and started to read, struggling with the fading ink.  
  
~My descendent, we are cursed.~  
  
Shigure frowned at the first line. Of course they were cursed, the Souma family had always been cursed.   
  
~I am Inu and I speak for our family, the Souma family. This is the record of our family and how we became what you are. When you have finished reading this record, write your story. Write the story of what your family is like, then hide this book. Do not allow anyone to find it. Should this book be found, you and your loved ones would be in great danger from the one who doomed our family.  
  
Read, and discover the truth. We were happy once, before the cat was taken from us...~  
  
To be continued... 


	3. Nightingale

Petshop of Horrors X-over Fruits Basket

Long Denied

Chapter 3: Birds

Shigure-

In the early morning light, the house was dark and filled with shadows that seemed to move of their own accord around the narrow boy seated in the corner of the house. He still hadn't closed the closet door, it seeming far less important than the treasure that lay on the floor in front of him. Shigure sat cross-legged on the floor of the cat's house with his eyes fixated on the book that rested on the floor before him and he read the words that he know understood had been written for him to read, so many years ago.

~I am Inu and I speak for our family, the Souma family. I speak for the ones who are no longer allowed voice. This is the record of our family and how we became what you are. When you have finished reading this record, write your story. Write the story of what your family is like, then hide this book. Do not allow anyone to find it. Should this book be found, you and your loved ones would be in great danger from the one who doomed our family.

Read, and discover the truth. We were happy once, before the cat was taken from us...~

A scream pierced the air and tore Shigure from the almost hypnotic words on the page and he looked up sharply, recognizing the cry. "Akito..." Shigure jumped to his feet without hesitation and ran out of the cat's house, leaving the book behind, forgotten on the floor. It was a long run from the cat's house to Akito's house, dodging through Junko's meticulous garden and then on passed many other houses. In fact, the cat's house was the furthest one from Akito's house. By the time Shigure arrived at Akito's house, he found he wasn't the first person there. The front door of the house was wide open and Shigure saw the steady stream of people going in and out of the house, all of them family. Their whispered voices were easily picked up by Shigure's sensitive ears.

"The boy saw her first..."

"It must have been a terrible shock, and with his weak health, too."

"If you ask me, the boy needs to get out more." A less sympathetic adult groused. "He's just spoiled, probably does nothing all day but watch television, anyway."

"That's not called for! She was practically his mother! Anyone would have screamed, you can't blame him for that."

'Practically his mother?' Shigure went cold at those words. 'Junko must have died.' 

Inside the house, just inside the door, Shigure caught Yahiko's eye. Yahiko didn't correct anything that was being said, he simply stood there, watching people. They would have a private ceremony later that night for Junko, just for the Zodiac members of the family, but it would be a far more elaborate affair. She was the rat, after all, and considered blessed. She would be given a grand party as a send off.

As he stepped up the stairs that led into the house, Shigure paused and sniffed at the air. He could smell all the distinctive scents of the normal members of the family and the more familiar scents of the Zodiac members, but the one that attracted his attention most was Junko's. Death was heavy in the air and it bore the peculiar scent of the rat. 

A sudden stab of guilt that he hadn't been able to help her hit Shigure hard, but he wasn't sure why. He was only a kid, there was no way he could have helped her.

Yahiko, unaware of what Shigure had all ready realized, came to him. "Go out back. Hatori and Ayame are with him, but I think Akito would like to see you." 

Shigure couldn't hear Akito screaming anymore, that had lasted only a moment, but he knew Akito would still be upset and very strong emotional out bursts like this could be just as dangerous for Akito as getting sick. So Shigure avoided all the gossiping adults and turned the corner of the largest house on the estate, Akito's house.

"Hari's with him." The voice spoke almost before Shigure had noticed that Ayame stood at the corner of the house. In the recent years, Ayame had developed his own distinct sense of style and today was no different. He and Hatori must have been all ready awake and out of bed when they'd been alerted by Akito's scream, just as Shigure had been. Today, with his shoulder length hair hanging loosely and dressed in a bright pink robe, Ayame looked almost as solemn as he had at Toma's funeral the previous night, except that now he was afraid, too. Ayame didn't bite his nails, he was to vain to ruin any part of his body, but he did have a habit of tapping his left foot when he was worried and was hugging himself. "'Gure?"

"Yes?" Shigure looked beyond Ayame and saw Hatori was sitting on the back porch that over looked the garden with Akito sobbing on his lap. 

"I'm scared." It was a rare, blunt admission. Despite Ayame's bold personality, he didn't like to admit when he was afraid. He didn't like it when he wasn't in control. "Have you noticed?" Ayame turned his golden eyes to Shigure. "First Toma and now Junko. Is everyone going to die?"

Shigure managed a smile to reassure Ayame. "Don't be silly. They were old, and old people die. Toma was almost ninety-six years old and Junko was nearly as old, people can't live forever."

"But," Ayame apparently wasn't assured by Shigure's smile or words. "But I just noticed it. Everyone's old, everyone except Yahiko and us. What happens when the other old Zodiac members die?" Ayame's voice trembled slightly. "We'll have to take care of everyone, won't we? We'll have to make sure Akito stays healthy and we'll have to make sure Kagura, Rin, and Ritsu stay safe and out of trouble. What about when the babies are born? Mom said Toma, and now Junko, will be reborn in just a few months. We'll have to look after the babies and I don't know if I can do that, 'Gure." Ayame looked close to tears, he was so upset. "I don't like all this dying, 'Gure. I...I'm just scared."

Shigure wasn't sure what he should tell Ayame, after all, Shigure was scared, too. Babies? What were they supposed to do when the cat was reborn? Would it look like a monster or a person? Did it have to have the magic bracelet or did that just work for Toma? There was so much to think about, but there was no time right now. "Don't worry so much." Shigure said as lightly as he could. "It'll all work out in the end. I promise." With that, Shigure walked towards Hatori, determined to help his friend and Akito any way he could.

Hatori sat on the back porch with his legs hanging over the edge, gently rocking Akito on his lap. Hatori whispered something comforting to the crying child who just kept repeating between sobs, "She lied...she lied..."

It was at that moment that Shigure paused and saw how terribly weak Akito was. He'd known, of course, that Akito was sick, he'd always known. From the moment Akito was born and had been rushed to the hospital because his heart had stopped to the daily ritual of taking pills. There was constant fear that he'd catch a cold or a sudden fever, both of which could be fatal. Simple things like the flu were terrifying for Akito. Akito's skin was so fair, Shigure could see the spider web designs of blood veins under it and even the slightest pressure would bruise Akito's delicate skin. Even Akito's size wasn't quite right; four-year-olds should be bigger than Akito's diminutive body. Akito could have easily passed for a three-year-old or maybe even younger. This was the first time, though, that Shigure had fully taken in the reality of Akito's health. It wasn't good.

'He's sick. So sick, he's really going to die.' It hurt Shigure to think about Akito's death, but part of him, the canine part of his mentality, spoke strongly. 'The sick must be removed to make way for the healthy. A pack can't thrive with a sick Alpha.' That was the way of canines. Wolves wouldn't let the unhealthy to stay in the pack. If Shigure were a canine, he would kill Akito and make way for a stronger Alpha. However much he might act like one, though, Shigure wasn't a wolf. He was human. 

Hatori, more sensitive than most people gave him credit for, looked up slightly and locked eyes with Shigure. Hatori was a very kind and gentle soul, a miracle considering his home life. He didn't like anyone being hurt and his instincts to protect Akito, like everyone else in the Zodiac, was strong. It was in their best interests to make sure Akito stayed alive and healthy, their own lives depended on it, after all.

It took a moment for Shigure to realize that Akito had stopped crying and was just clinging to Hatori. Half laying on his stomach on the porch and half laying on Hatori's lap, Akito stared into space with his fingers curled around Hatori's shirt tightly and bloodshot eyes. 

'Why? All of a sudden, two deaths? I wonder why?' But Shigure hadn't been as close to Junko as he had been to Toma and he could control his sadness. For Akito's sake, if for nothing else, Shigure could control himself. "Hari?" Shigure went to kneel next to Hatori and looked at Akito. "Akito-chan? What happened?"

Akito's voice was small and weak, barely a whisper, as he spoke. "She lied."

"About what?" Shigure asked, brushing Akito's hair out of his eyes with a casual hand.

"She promised me. She promised she wouldn't leave me and she did. Junko promised she'd always love me no matter what happened." He sniffled and buried his face in Hatori's lap again.

Hatori petted Akito's hair gently and told Shigure. "Akito found Junko when he woke up and...it was a bit of a shock." Hatori's talent for understatement would never be equaled. Finding a dead body would traumatize any four-year-old, let alone frail little Akito. "I don't want to leave him alone now." Hatori's nurturing nature shone through. Whether or not he liked a person, Hatori would never allow them to be in pain.

Not that the adults had forgotten Akito. If Akito were to die...it would be a disaster. Death for all of the Zodiac. Akito was far to important, it was he who gave his life's energy so that the Zodiac and the cat would live. Shigure wasn't quite sure of how that worked, no one was, but it was the truth, nonetheless.

"I...I don't like this." Akito said, his voice a muffled whisper from Hatori's lap until he lifted his face to look at Shigure and he winced at the sun. "I hurt. My chest hurts and my eyes hurt and my head hurts. Did you feel like this when Toma died?"

Shigure nodded. In all honestly, no words could justify how much it had hurt to lose the only father figure he'd ever had.

"Even if Toma was a monster?" Akito asked.

"Toma was never a monster to me."

Akito raise one tiny hand and wiped the tears off his face. "Toma's going to be reborn, right? I heard someone say the cat will be reborn. That means Junko's going to be reborn, too."

"No." Shigure wasn't sure how to say this without breaking Akito's faint hope. "The cat will be reborn and the rat will be reborn, but they won't be Toma and Junko. They've gone to heaven, I think." Shigure wasn't sure what God thought about the cursed Zodiac members. 

But Akito scowled bleakly. "NO!" He snapped. "Junko promised she'd always be with me, so when she gets reborn, she's coming to be with me. She'll love me more than anyone." His voice softened slightly. "I still love you, Shigure, but I want Junko. I love her, too, and I want her back. She said she loved me best of all, so when she gets reborn, she'll love me and stay with me forever."

Hatori looked at Shigure, worried, but said nothing.

"You're not going to believe me, are you?" Shigure asked, sadly. It was going to hurt Akito so much when the new Zodiac members were born and the rat wasn't Junko.

"No, I'm not." Akito said belligerently. "Take me to the park, Shigure." Akito said, a demanding tone in his voice. "You promised. Don't break your promise."

It was another voice that interrupted them, the voice of one of the adults. "I'm afraid you can't go today, Akito-sama."

Shigure, Hatori, and Akito all looked up to find a member of the family who wasn't cursed, a distant aunt or something, standing in the doorway just behind them. Akito held tighter to Hatori's shirt and scowled. "I want to go to the park. Shigure promised he'd take me."

"I don't mind." Shigure spoke up. "A promise is a promise, after all." How could he explain to her how important this was after Akito had suffered so terribly? A simple trip to the park, after all...

But the woman shook her head. "I'm sorry, but you're to upset, Akito, and it would be to easy for you to get sick again. It's best that you stay home." She stepped forward and bent to take Akito from Hatori. "Now that you've lost Junko, I'll be staying with you and I'll take care of you. You'll have to listen to what I say."

Akito had other ideas.

"I wanna stay with Hatori!" Akito screamed at the top of his lungs, wrapping his arms around Hatori's neck and holding on as fiercely as he could. The woman grabbed Akito under the arms and tried to drag him off Hatori, but Akito had somewhere gotten a burst of strength and held onto Hatori as if his life depended on it. "Shigure! Hatori! Don't let me go! Don't make me go with her!" Akito screamed when it seemed that the woman would be able to pry him off Hatori.

Obediently, Hatori put his arms around Akito and held him tightly. The woman, not being a member of the Zodiac, didn't feel the compulsion to obey Akito that the Zodiac members felt. While the rest of the family would do their best to obey Akito, they could disobey, if they wished. Zodiac members, though, found it almost impossible to go against the wishes of the head of the family.

Shigure growled menacingly at the woman, baring his teeth at her, but she didn't seem to notice him until he grabbed her leg with both hands and bit her. It wasn't something he normally did, but Shigure was Zodiac and it had been ingrained into him from a very young age that he had to obey the head of the family. No matter what, he had to obey.

"Arrrr!" She cried. "Shigure! You little brat!" She kicked him away, but her fight wasn't done, yet.

Once Hatori had a secure hold on him, Akito loosened one arm and swung his fist backwards, hitting the woman in the mouth the moment she reached down to grab him. She staggered back with a cry of pain and put her hand to her bleeding mouth. She tried again to get Akito, but before she even got one hand on him, he twisted enough to kick her in the knee and she stumbled. 

"Akito!" She cried out, angrily. "I know you're upset, but that's enough of a temper tantrum, you're to old for this!" Then she looked at Shigure and Hatori. "And you two! What do you think you're doing?!"

Akito put both arms around Hatori's neck again and pressed his cheek against Hatori's. "If you try to take me away from Hatori, I'll kill you." He snarled viciously. There was something dreadfully cold in the way Akito said that, something that said he'd have no qualms about carrying through the threat. The fact that he was only four made it all the more chilling.

Shigure's mouth fell open and he broke out in a cold sweat at the sound of Akito's voice, all of a sudden. He'd never once been afraid of Akito, in all of Akito's life. But just then, for a short moment, Akito had sounded so much like Akira that Shigure couldn't help but be afraid. Toma had said that all the heads of the family were always sick. Junko had said that Akito would turn out just like Akira. 'He...he's going to get a sick mind, just like Akira.' But the thought of little Akito being like the nightmare who'd haunted Shigure's early childhood, the man who'd put Shigure though so much pain, hurt. He didn't want Akito to be like Akira.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the thoughts, Shigure concentrated not on how Akito would likely be one day, but on who he was now. A hurt, frightened child who was having a temper tantrum. He had to make sure Akito was all right.

"Why don't you let us put Akito to bed?" Shigure spoke up suddenly. He smiled charmingly, in just the way he'd learned could get him almost anything he wanted, from the female members of his family, anyway. "Don't worry, you should really put some ice on your mouth, you know. You'll start to swell up."

"Not to mention my leg." The woman said bitterly, glaring at Shigure. Still, she did think about the suggestion and seemed to realize she couldn't do anything about Akito. He was determined to stay with Hatori. "All right. I don't want him getting even more upset, but make sure goes right to bed." She winced at the pain of speaking and started to walk away. Out of the corner of his eye, Shigure caught Ayame's eye and nodded in the direction of the woman. Ayame, not as stupid as everyone thought he was, took the hint and went after the limping woman, to make sure she was all right.

Even with the woman gone, Akito wasn't quite content to go to bed. "You promised!" He turned his glare on Shigure. "It's your birthday and you promised you'd take me to the park today!" His rapid breathing and flushed face showed that he was still to upset from the confrontation with the woman and being so upset wasn't good for Akito.

Hatori, patting Akito's back again to calm him, said, "He feels warm, I think he's got a fever, Shigure. He needs to stay in bed." Hatori must have known that he could have gotten hurt from saying that, just as the woman had been for suggesting that Akito go back to bed, but he didn't show any fear as he held Akito. His faith paid off and Akito did nothing.

"Well," Shigure smiled brightly. "You heard him, Akito-chan. Back to bed, doctor Hatori's orders and you can't disobey your doctor."

For a moment, Shigure waited for Akito to fly into another tantrum. The little boy's eyes squeezed shut and his arms narrow squeezed around Hatori. Then his whole body relaxed and he sagged limply into Hatori's lap again. "You lied, too." Akito accused, lifelessly. "You didn't want to go to the park with me in the first place."

Shigure jumped to his feet and put his hands under Hatori's arms, to help him to his feet so Hatori wouldn't have to put Akito down. Together, they walked back into the house and ignored the sudden silence their appearance caused. It was strange to see a whole house full of people that were dead quiet. It was quite unnatural, really. Shigure led the way to Akito's room, opening the door for Hatori and closing it firmly behind them. He helped to tuck Akito in and waited until Hatori was sitting on the edge of Akito's bed before he said,

"How about a deal, Akito-chan? If I can't take you to the park, I'll bring the park to you."

Akito cocked his head at Shigure and looked puzzled. "Huh?"

Shigure patted Akito's hand. "You stay here with Hari and I'll be right back. All right?"

Shigure arrived at the City Park panting for breath and he looked around hurriedly. He'd run all the way from the Souma estate, trying to get this done with as quickly as possible. This was the best he could do for Akito so he had to find something that could hold Akito's attention for at least a little while, something that would cheer him up. Even though Shigure did believe getting out into the sunshine would be good for Akito's health in the long-run, he couldn't deny that doing that today would be a very bad idea.

After a short search, Shigure found what he was looking and smiled. 'Now, I just have to catch one.'

Later, Shigure returned to Akito's bedroom to find Hatori in the same place. Akito seemed to be asleep, at first, but his eyes cracked open when he heard Shigure come in. Shigure held his hands cupped together in front of him and he had a very pleased looking smile on his face. "Hari, would you open the doors." Shigure nodded with his head to the large double doors that looked out onto the garden from Akito's room. When Hatori did as Shigure asked, Shigure took Hatori's spot next to Akito.

"What have you got?" Akito asked, trying to sit up a little better when he saw Shigure was obviously holding something very carefully. It wasn't until Hatori put his hands under Akito's armpits and pulled him up, though, that Akito could manage it. The fever was starting to take a toll on him and he all ready looked weaker than he had just an hour ago. Shigure also noticed the orange plastic pill bottles on the table next to Akito's bed and a half-drunk glass of water, so he knew Hatori had already taken care of the medicine.

"I promised to bring you the park, well, I couldn't bring it all, so I brought the best part. You have to be quiet, though, or you'll scare him." Shigure very slowly and very carefully opened his hands, revealing the treasure inside.

"A bird!" Akito gasped, his eyes going wide with amazement as he saw the tiny brown and grey bird nestled in Shigure's hands. His amazement was almost funny, but Akito had never seen a bird this close before. He wearily stretched out a finger and gingerly touched its feathered back. "Soft." Akito whispered half to himself. The bird jumped at the touch and flapped its wings in frantic little movements before it leapt from Shigure's hands, into the air. Akito's brief look of disappointment was erased by joy when he watched the bird dart around his room, searching for a way out before it found the doors left open by Hatori. The bird flew out and perched in one of the small cherry trees in the garden.

Akito smiled. "Wow." He breathed. Then he turned his shining eyes to Shigure. "Thanks."

"No problem."

A few days later-

Ayame-

Ayame returned home after school when his mother met him at the door. Ayame was spoiled, almost rotten, and he knew it. His mother was one of the few who not only knew about the Zodiac, but she was very proud her son was one of them. So proud, in fact, that she gave Ayame almost anything he wanted.

"Ayame-chan!" Her happy voice rang through the house the moment he stepped in the door. "Ayame-chan, I have wonderful news!" She was beaming at him joyfully. "You're going to be a big brother!"

"A what?" Ayame asked, shocked. "How…how do you know?"

"I just got back from the doctor's. Do you know what this means? Since it's so soon after Junko died, your little brother or sister will probably be the next rat!" Her happiness was almost tangible. "We'll be so blessed and if Akito-sama is fond of this rat, too, then we'll be favored, even in the family. We'll get to move into one of the bigger houses and Akito-sama might even give us a servant or two!"

Ayame didn't smile at the happy news. "But…I'm going to inherit the snake's house in a couple of days." Had she forgotten his birthday all ready? They'd made plans that she could live with him in the snake's house, far larger than the one she had now. They'd been planning the move for months and Ayame had been so proud that he'd be the one to take care of his mother now. Now with his allowance granted to him from the family simply for being the snake, he'd be able to buy her whatever she needed.

"Yes, dear." His mother said absently. "I'm sure you'll be very happy there. Don't worry, you can come and visit us at the rat's house any time you want."

"Thank you." Ayame replied, at a loss. How could this be happening? She was just going to forget him? Didn't it mean anything to her to be near him? "But…" Ayame couldn't help but ask the question. "But Toma just died, too. What if my new brother or sister is the next cat?"

His mother glared at him. "Don't even suggest that! The shame of having the cat for a child? I'd rather die! Your second cousin, Hiroko, is pregnant, too. I just hope it's her who has the cat, not me. We're the only two pregnant at the moment, so one of us has the cat and one has the rat. The rat, I'll just keep praying we have the rat in our family. After all, Hiroko is the slut of the family. She's not even married and she goes and gets knocked up? She deserves the cat, not me."

"But, Hiroko doesn't know about the Zodiac curse, does she?"

"No. I suppose it'll be a rather rude awakening if she has the cat, now won't it?" She smiled mirthlessly. 

Ayame left the room without another word to his mother. He wasn't sure how he felt about this new brother or sister, but he was sure he didn't like seeing his mother like he just had. He'd never seen her so…vicious and he was sure he didn't like this side of his mother. 

He packed a small bag of clothes and left the house without a word to his mother. 'I think I don't want to be here tonight. I think I'll go stay with Shigure for a while. He won't mind if I sleep at his house.' Ayame didn't want to admit that the sudden understanding that his mother had only been using him for position in the family made him want to break down in tears. Had she ever really loved him or had she simply loved that having the snake for a son raised her position? 'I don't think I want to know the answer.'

Not far away-

Count D-

In the streets of Japan, a country Count D had lived in for nearly twenty years, he crossed paths with a woman who made him stop and consider her. She was a typical human female with nothing out of the ordinary about her, except her eyes. Her eyes were lifeless. Dead.

In a fit of pity, Count D stopped in his tracks and watched her. In one hand she held a small bouquet of wild flowers, but even they hung at her side, as if she couldn't bring herself to care about them. Her steps, as she made her way to the city graveyard, were slow and halting. Occasionally, she would stumbled on an uneven bit of the sidewalk, but she would pull herself up without making a noise of complain. It seemed that life had finally dealt a deadly blow to this young woman who was really little more than a child, she couldn't have been more than seventeen at the most. 

He followed her into the graveyard, but kept silent when she knelt at a small headstone and placed the flower bouquet on the grave. For a very long time, she was silent. Then,

"Katsuya? Can you hear me? I read once that sometimes people talk to spirits and it helps them feel better." She paused. "I don't feel better. I still want to die. I can't do this without you, Kat. What do I do now? I'm going to lose the apartment. My job doesn't pay enough for it. I think I'll go back to my first apartment. You remember, that one you didn't like. It was cheaper, anyway. Not like I have anyone to take care of now, anyway." She paused again and slid herself down, so she was sitting on the earth that covered the grave. "I'm not pregnant. I went to the doctor's the other day, but I didn't have a chance to tell you. You were dead when I came back. Remember we were so happy when we thought I was…well, I'm not. Now, I don't even have that left of you. That horrible sister of yours came and took just about everything except the shirt of my back." She paused again and her head drooped pathetically. "I'm so lonely, Kat. I can't sleep at night without you. I feel like I can't breath without you." She burst into tears and buried her face in her hands.

Count D, never known for taking pity on humans before this moment, did something he'd never done. With his slow, graceful steps, Count D stepped closer to the crying girl and put a hand on her shoulder. "May I offer you a cup of tea, miss?"

  
"No. Go away." Her muffled voice replied and she shook her shoulder to get his hand off her.

Count D wasn't so easy to dissuade. "I can not do that. I fear you will do yourself harm if I leave you here alone."

"It's not your business, just leave me alone."

"Ah," Count D smiled down at her. "But you're wrong. You are my business. I have a gift to offer you. Katsuya left you something and I will give it to you." It was a lie, of course. He'd never met this man the young woman cried so bitterly for, but he did have a gift that would do her nothing but good. He had the feeling that if he simply offered it out of good will, though, that she wouldn't accept.

This caught her attention and she looked up sharply, strands of her long hair clinging to her face because of her tears. "Katsuya? He left something?" Then she looked Count D up and down with intelligent, if still grieved, eyes. "Who are you? He never mentioned anyone like you as a friend before."

"That doesn't surprise me. May I help you up?" He offered a long nailed hand, but the young woman refused it.

"I'm strong enough to do that, anyway." Once on her feet, the young woman offered a slight bow. "You can call me Kyoko. Honda Kyoko."

"And I am known as Count D. Please, follow me."

"You own a petshop?" Kyoko asked when she saw where Count D had led her. "Somehow, I hadn't guessed a petshop. So Kat bought me a pet?" She gave a soft laugh, a sweet sound, so much nicer than her cries. "That sounds like him. He's been thinking of getting a cat or a dog for a while now."

Count D had all ready decided the pet this young woman was to have. He had the perfect thing that would suit her life perfectly. "Yes, a very special pet. Would you like to meet her?"

Kyoko nodded, still looking curious and suspicious, which Count D thought was better than the despair she'd felt before. At least now she wasn't so closing to ending her own life. That would truly be a shame.

"You two will to nicely together." Count D commented as he held the door open for her and let Kyoko into the petshop. "Please, follow me into the back." He took her though the halls of petshop, knowing that she was probably confused at how such a small shop could have an endless amount of halls and rooms, but he didn't bother to explain and she didn't bother to ask. He took her to one of the rooms, one of his more pleasant rooms, the nursery. In this large room, all the females expecting young were kept in complete safety and comfort, their every need carefully taken care of. Also, the young and newborn animals lived in this room. It was a place of great joy for Count D.

Kyoko paused when she entered, no doubt surprised at the amount and variety of animals all living together in one room. If it wasn't the animals, she was probably surprised to find trees growing inside a building.

Count D went to one of the trees with a low hanging branch. On that branch was a small nest and in that nest was a single, dull colored egg. He carefully lifted the egg and held it out to Kyoko.

She blinked at him in surprise. "An egg? I can't take care of an egg, I have no clue where to even start. I'll probably break the poor thing before I even get home."

"I think you will surprise yourself." Count D allowed himself a smile as he watched her worried face. Yes, he knew she would perfectly with this child. "She is a nightingale, a dull, grey and brown bird, but the voice of a nightingale is said to be the most beautiful sound in the world." 

Kyoko did as she was told and took the small egg from Count D's hand. It was very like most any other egg in the world and nothing to show it was anything but a bird's egg. The fact that this egg had no parent in Count D's petshop, wasn't uncommon, many of his pets were orphans. This was a very rare egg, a species of bird that was both treasured and overlooked, depending on one's point of view. For this young woman, Count D had no doubt that this egg would be the answer to her dreams.

"You must take great care of this egg, from it will hatch what you wish for the most. Your husband wished he could have given you this." Count D took the young woman's arm and took her out of the nursery and back to the front room of the petshop, but he didn't touch the egg. It was important for it to imprint on this woman and not him. "It will take nine months for this egg to hatch, and you must guard it as if you are guarding your own child while it grows. There is, of course, a contract to be signed."

"Contract?" Kyoko looked up from the egg she was cradling carefully in her hands. "Why? I'm still not sure about this. Isn't there an age or something you have to leave birds with their mothers, like cats and dogs?"

"Alas, this poor child is an orphan. Her family has abandoned her. I fear she will die without a proper, loving home."

That seemed to strike a chord in the Kyoko and her face hardened. "Abandoned, huh? Well, I know what that feels like. I'll do my best for her. Tell me what to do."

"It's all in the contract." Count D produced the single paged contract and lay it down on the table before the young woman. "There are three rules you must follow. 1. You must not show the egg to anyone, until after it has hatched. 2. Treat this egg as your own child. 3. You must carry this egg with you at all times until she hatches."

She started at that last rule. "But...I'll crush it! The poor thing will be dead before the day's out! I work in construction, heavy lifting all the time, there's no way it would be safe. Maybe you should take it back. I don't want it if I'm just going to kill it."

"No, you underestimate the strength of this child. She is strong. Far stronger than she looks. Having you near will help her develop into the creature she is meant to be, the creature you wish her to be. It is very important that you always keep her close to your heart."

"How do you know it's going to be a girl?" 

"I've been dealing with animals for a very long time, miss. This will be a female. Just sign here and you may take her home."

Kyoko shook her head, still reluctant. "No deal. You haven't said a word about money and I'm not rich enough to afford just signing something..."

"There is no payment required, your husband has all ready paid for it." Count D smiled kindly, giving her another, harmless lie. "I think, perhaps, you are the right person for her. She would not do so well with anyone else, other than you." Count D couldn't tell why he thought this, but he knew enough to trust his instincts about animals and his instincts were telling him to put this egg with this woman. They belonged together.

Finally, after a lot of reassuring, Kyoko took the offered pen and signed her name where Count D indicated.

Kyoko-

Kyoko felt like an idiot as she left the petshop, hiding the small egg in her pocket. 'I must be mad, this is as bad as taking candy from strangers and you couldn't get much stranger than that guy. Why did I even go in there? Oh, yeah. Kat wanted me to have this.' She almost managed a smile with that thought. If Katsuya had wanted her to have it, there was no way that Kyoko would refuse the gift. Still, it was a mystery as to how that Count D guy had found her out in the graveyard. 

'What am I going to do without you, Katsuya?' Kyoko's steps slowed. The apartment they'd shared was small, but comfortable. It had been a dream home, really, considering what Kyoko had come from. She'd had a life on the streets and a tiny, dingy apartment infested with cockroaches before Katsuya had just sort of dropped into her life. He was the one who'd pulled her out if it all. Rather, he'd helped her to pull herself out.

For Katsuya's sake, Kyoko did as Count D had instructed. She always carried the fragile egg in the pocket of her shirt just over her heart. Even at night, she carefully put it in bed with her. At least, if nothing else, a pet bird would always remind her of Katsuya.

The days and night passed and Kyoko grew more and more fond of the egg that filled her lonely life. She had no family and no friends to comfort her in her grief, so she focused all her attention and love on the egg from Katsuya. She even found herself talking to the little egg when they got home late at night from work. The little egg became so important to Kyoko that sometimes, in off moments, she would wonder if she was like one of those little old women who keep two dozen cats to talk to after they've been widowed. But those thoughts would vanish when Kyoko would hold the egg. It really was precious. The only thing in her life she could love without fear of rejection.

One night, many months after her strange visit to the petshop, after carefully laying the egg beside her in bed, to keep it warm, she fell asleep and had a dream.

Dream-

"Do you love her?" A bodiless voice asked, coming to Kyoko from the darkness. 

"What?" Kyoko asked. "Love who?"

"Do you love your child?"

For a moment, Kyoko had no idea what the voice was talking about. The it hit her. The egg. "You mean the egg? She's not...well...she's not my child." But Kyoko regretted it the moment she'd said it. It hurt to acknowledge that fact.

"As all mothers do, you have guarded her, you have kept her warm and safe. If you are not this child's mother, then who is? Do you love her?"

That question was easy. "Yes, of course I do." Kyoko had come to love the little egg long ago. She wasn't sure why, but she did. It was a simple fact.

End Dream-

Then Kyoko woke up.

She sat straight up in bed and blinked at the darkness. "What was that all about?" She asked herself out loud.

CRACK

Kyoko blinked at the odd sound.

CRACK

She looked around, only half-awake, and it took her a moment to realize where the cracking was coming from. Now wide-awake, Kyoko threw back the blankets on her bed and stared down at the small, dull colored egg. A small, very small, crack had formed in the top of it.

It had been nine months since she'd brought the egg home, nine months of carrying it around and loving it.

"Hatching...hatching..." Kyoko's mind went dumb, then snapped back to life. "He never told me what to do when it hatched!" She cried, not caring if she woke the neighbors. "What do I do? What do I feed it?" But her worries only grew as the crack in the egg grew bigger and bigger until it very suddenly fell into two pieces, leaving a wet, messy looking, bird chick on Kyoko's bed. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of such a tiny, helpless thing. "Oh…my baby."

While she was staring at it in wonder and fear, Kyoko's amazement grew when the baby bird started to change. Kyoko, frightened, fell off the bed and landed on the floor hard. 'That can't be a bird! It just can't be!' But Kyoko cautiously peered over the edge of her bed to find the chick still growing and changing. Like something off a movie, it's body stretched and its head changed shape until the bird chick was gone and, in its place, was a baby. A real, naked human baby, looking as if she'd just been born. It took the baby's wail of hunger to bring Kyoko to her senses. Her hands were shaking and she felt completely overwhelmed, but she managed to dry the baby off with one blanket and then wrap it in another.

"Warm...we have to keep you warm. Oh, God, you're going to need food! What do babies need? Errrr...milk! Yes, that's right...no. Not milk. Formula. Yeah, they sell that at the corner store!" With the howling baby in her arms, Kyoko ran out of her apartment, still in her nightdress and carrying her purse, determined to buy something for her baby to eat. She worried that baby birds don't drink formula, but other than that, she didn't have the slightest idea what to do for it. It looked like a human baby, therefore she'd treat it like one.

It wasn't until a while later when they were back in Kyoko's apartment that she had a chance to think about what had happened. "I don't know who he really was, but Count D knew what he was talking about, I guess." Kyoko whispered to the baby who was now falling asleep in her arms after having devoured an entire bottle of formula. "You are the answer to my dreams. You look just like Katsuya, too. His eyes and I'll bet you'll have his brown hair when you get bigger. If you don't turn back into a bird, that is. I wonder if you will? How long will I have you before you fly away?" She held the baby closer and resolved to go back to the petshop in the morning and get some answers out of Count D. "It doesn't matter. For now, you're all I need. What shall I call you? Ahh...I remember. Katsuya wanted to name our first daughter Tohru. Honda Tohru."

She did try to go back to the petshop, carrying baby Tohru, carefully as if she were afraid the baby would break, but the petshop was gone. Count D had been telling the truth when he said he was leaving. 

"Well," Kyoko looked down at Tohru. "We're on our own, I guess. Just you and me, kid. You're going to have to trust me." To Kyoko's delight, Tohru looked up at her and smiled sweetly. "I love you so much, Tohru." Kyoko whispered. 'We can do this. I'm not alone anymore, so I know we can survive.'

To be continued...

To those who have reviewed:

A word of thanks. Your comments and questions and praise have encouraged me to write in every free moment I've had. 


	4. Original

Petshop of Horrors X-over Fruits Basket  
  
Long Denied  
  
Chapter 4: The Original  
  
  
  
Just after Junko's death, before Tohru was hatched-  
  
Shigure-  
  
Shigure returned from his visit with Akito feeling cold and numb all over. He was glad that Akito was pleased by the bird, but...but he didn't like what he was starting to think. 'Akito's starting to go like Akira. He...he hit that woman and I bit her for him. I don't want to hurt people, but I did it without thinking.' Shigure didn't like that. He didn't want to hurt anyone, not even for Akito.   
  
When he stopped walking, Shigure looked up and found himself back at the cat's house. It still even smelled like Toma, but now the thoughts and smells only brought comfort for Shigure and not pain. 'It doesn't seem like he died just yesterday.' Shigure thought as he went inside. 'Everything's so peaceful.' The house was just as it had been when Toma died and that, too, was tradition. In the same way that Shigure's new house had been filled with the belonging of the previous dog. Shigure had inherited everything from furniture to photo albums filled with pictures and even a pair of glasses. Even the sheets were still on the bed. Smelled weird, but they were still there.  
  
Still, Shigure had only one thing on his mind. The book. It was still where Shigure had left it, open to the first page where Shigure had left it when he'd run off at Akito's scream. 'I feel sort of guilty leaving Akito. But I can't be with him all the time. Wish I knew why I wanted to stay with him.' But Shigure tried to dismiss these thoughts as he sat before the book again. 'Toma said it was real important, so I have to read it.'  
  
Shigure read...  
  
  
  
~I am Inu and I speak for our family, the Souma family. I speak for the ones who are no longer allowed voice. This is the record of our family and how we became what you are. When you have finished reading this record, write your story. Write the story of what your part of our family is like, then hide this book. Do not allow anyone to find it. Should this book be found, you and your loved ones would be in great danger from the one who doomed our family.  
  
Read, and discover the truth. We were happy once, before the cat was taken from us...  
  
I should have started this sooner. I know I should have. Would that I had known what would happen to my family.   
  
Let me start at the beginning.   
  
As I write this, the year is 289 AD and it had been fifty nine years since our family was forced to change. I am older than most humans would believe, for I've just had my four hundred and seventy second birthday. Are you surprised? How much has our family changed, I wonder, that you are surprised by my age. I look, I'm told, like a human of no more than thirty and I will never look any older. Why should I? I'm not human. None of us are human.  
  
We have taken the human name of Souma to better blend into the humans we now must live amongst. Once we had no name, we simply...were. We existed and we were together, that was enough.   
  
We are a small family, only fourteen members are ever alive in ever live. In a way, I know I should write this simply, to let you, whoever you may be, know the danger we are in. I admit to one vice, which I'm sure you will share. I am a storyteller. How do I know you will share this talent? Because I the dog and I know better than anyone what the dog is all about.  
  
You who read this already know we are cursed, but, as the years pass, I fear you will forget how we became cursed. This is a story and I pray you read the whole story and, when you've reached the end, add your own story. Please include the names and animals of the family you know. When you have grown old and feel your life beginning to slip away wrap this book and seal it as carefully as you can. Give it to the cat and instruct them that the book is to be given only to the next dog, no one else. No matter what your family is like, I know we still share the same blood. The cat is, has always been, trustworthy. They will guard this record with all that they have and will not betray your confidence. It is a trait of the cat.  
  
I will keep this record as short as I can, there must be room left in this book for future entries so our family will not forget. You must never forget, we are all in danger. If he finds us again...I'm sure he won't let us go, he won't let us escape a second time and I shudder to think what he would do to us once he recaptured us.  
  
I think I'll write this as a story with information I've gathered from the family. What I don't know, I'll leave out. Everything you read is true and nothing is false or guessed at. Do not allow anyone...anyone to read what is in this book. There is to great a danger that some member of the family will try to seek out our enemy and that will only lead to trouble for us all.  
  
Please, read, and remember, no matter what changes have come to our family in the years between you and I, we are family. And now, thanks to our own foolishness, we are cursed.  
  
~~Zodiac family, from Inu's point of view. ~~  
  
The Zodiac Family as I know them are:  
  
Ka-kani head of the family. Died 252. Replaced by Fai.  
  
Inu the Dog (Me! Still alive and kicking.)  
  
Ryu the Dragon. Died 259 AD. Replaced by Ping.  
  
Hibi the Snake   
  
Nezumi the Rat. Died 240 AD. Replaced by Xaiogang.  
  
Oushi the Cow  
  
Usagi the Rabbit  
  
Buta the Pig  
  
Sari the Monkey. Died 246. Replaced by Xiaomei.  
  
Taiga the Tiger  
  
Hitsuji the Sheep  
  
Ondori the Rooster. Died 244. Replaced by Kwan.  
  
Neko the Cat. Died 239 AD. Replaced by Jai.  
  
You see? Even in telling this much, I realize how much our family has changed all ready. We have taken human names to blend in with the society we must hide in. Never before have we had any other names that those of the animals who's shape we bear.  
  
I'll start again.   
  
We lived in China, deep in the unexplored forests that were thick with life, but close enough to a human village that we took the precaution of building a large wall around our single communal house. Not that we were afraid of them...well, not exactly. But humans do tend to attack what they don't understand and I doubt they would have understood us at all.  
  
Taiga, the youngest member of our family, only about ten years old, called out to his dearest friend, "Hitsuji, you promised to play with me!" The little tiger, a sweet boy dashed to his older friend and took her hand imploringly. "Please, Hitsuji, please. Don't go out!"  
  
Hitsuji, an elegantly dressed lady who looked deceivingly as if she were thirty years old, in all her finery, and smiled down at the four-year-old tiger. Hitsuji dressed in the finest clothing and had her face painted so elaborately that she looked as if she were the queen of some forgotten faery world. "But, Tiaga, I told you I had to do the family shopping today. It's my turn and where would we be if we didn't do our jobs? Nothing would ever get done." Family shopping was a bit of a joke. We went to the near by village only once every few years, but it wasn't for food or clothing, it was for information. We needed to know what was going on in the outside world for our own safety.  
  
Tiaga scowled and folded his arms over his chest, trying to look as grown up as possible for a little boy who was badly in need of a haircut and a bath. "You're just trying to get away from me! You promised to play with me today."  
  
Hitsuji put a hand on his shoulder. "I will play with you, but later."  
  
"No, now!" It was typical and expected for the short-tempered boy, but Hitsuji was well accustomed to her little friend's temper.  
  
"Then, how about you come into the village with me and help me with the shopping? Then we can play all the sooner." She asked with a gentle smile. Of course, Taiga happily slipped his hand into hers and they set off together, opening the gates and closing them again after they'd left. Taiga wouldn't pass up an opportunity to go with Hitsuji, no matter where she was going.  
  
I thought it was cute. Taiga was growing up quickly and I can see a relationship between the two of them quite easily. Hitsuji isn't opposed to it, she sees that he'll grow into a fine young man, so she lets him stay as close to her as he wishes.  
  
We are...we were a powerful family. We lived in a primitive world ruled by fear and superstition, a world where the beliefs of a few could change everything. If the humans suspected that we were anything but a reclusive family, they would fear us terribly, I think. Though we lived in the world of humans, though we weren't apart of them. We all looked human, I suppose, so human that no one ever thought us peculiar at all. Not one of us, though, had even an ounce of human blood, though that would change before long.  
  
That comes later, though. I suppose the real story began later that same day that Hitsuji and Tiaga went out to see the humans. It began with a party. At least, that's what we thought.   
  
I remember looking out that afternoon, so close to New Years, that there was a chill in the air and frost on the ground. I remember thinking, as I looked out my window and saw Neko sleeping on the wall that surrounded our house, that it would snow later. The sky had that grey, dreary look that always comes before a snow. Still, despite the cold and the coming snow, Neko lay on the wall with his jacket hanging open and no shirt beneath the jacket. I shook my head and wondered why he did such things. I suppose I can hardly say anything to him. I've been known to do foolish things myself.  
  
On the tall wall that enclosed the family complex, an orange haired man who was bare chested warmed his body in the morning sun. He looked perhaps thirty, but no more, and was in his prime. He was laying down on his back, sunbathing with his hands folded peacefully on his chest. His orange hair wasn't quite as long as most of ours was, most of the people in our family favored long hair, but he kept his cut to his shoulders.  
  
"Neko!"  
  
The man woke up when he heard his name and he looked down at the silver haired girl who stood on the ground below him, looking up at him with eyes that were only slightly mocking. She has always been so beautiful, since the day she was born, we knew she'd be unsurpassed in beauty. It wasn't just her long, silvery hair, but she was taller than most women and with a willowy build. Her grown, a simle outfit that hung off a single shoulder strap and fell to her feet was nothing that any human would be seen wearing. The material of her gown was like silver, shining and sparkling with every movement and it reminded me of starlight.   
  
Without getting up, Neko smiled. "What do you want, Nezumi?" He was always pleased to see her, despite his almost rude way of speaking.  
  
"I just came to tell you we have a visitor. He's in the audience chambers with Ka-Kani, now. Do you want to go see him? You hardly ever get to see outsiders."  
  
That made me pause in my writing. My house was right next to the main entrance to the estate specifically so I could always see the visitors first. Why hadn't I seen anyone enter? I was, after all, the guardian of the family. Hearing that we have some stranger within the walls of the estate, I set down my brush and left my writing on my desk. It would have to wait, which was a pity, because I was just getting to the juicy part...er...I mean the climax.  
  
As I straightened my robes, I listened the conversation between Neko and Nezumi and watched them from my window.  
  
Neko was saying, "I won't see one today, either." This time he put his hands behind his head and crossed his legs. "You know I don't like outsiders. I have everything and everyone I need inside these walls. Why should I be at all interested in what's outside?"  
  
Nezumi smirked before she gave a graceful leap and then stood on the wall just at Neko's head, looking down at him. "It would do you no harm to indulge your curiosity. You're mind's going to suffocate in here if you don't get out now and again." She sat down, next to his head and delicately crossed her ankles as she swung her legs. With one hand, Nezumi balanced herself and with her other, she ran her fingers through Neko's wavy orange hair.  
  
I always thought she looked like a pixy or a faery. Like all of the rats of the Zodiac family since the dawn of time, Nezumi was thin, almost unhealthily so. It was a thinness that lied, hiding her strength. Her hair, long and braided into looping coils, was silver and her eyes were dark purple. She had a kind of grace that few could hope for and a velvet voice. Like all of the us, she was eerily beautiful.  
  
It occurs to me that you don't understand how a family of fourteen people could continue without the dangers of inbreeding. To be honest, I'd never even worried about that until human blood entered our family.  
  
I know that in your time, life must have changed for our family. I suppose that I should explain how we are created. The heredity of the Sohma family was not what one might think. The parent of the rat, for instance, was not a rat. There was only one type of animal in every generation. Nezumi's mother had been the sheep and she had no father. One might think that this was impossible, but one had to remember that we weren't human. Our family would conceive children as soon as one of us died, to ensure that there were always the proper number of us.  
  
There was no other explanation as to how this happened other than that of magic.   
  
Neko let Nezumi caress his hair for a moment before he reached his fingers up to touch her wrist. It was a tiny gesture, but one that made Nezumi smile. "This is the best sun spot in the whole family complex. No visitor is worth leaving it until the sun's left it."  
  
Nezumi laughed and leaned over so she could look at his face. "My beautiful cat. What am I going to do with your lazy..."  
  
"Darling rat." Neko whispered, putting his free hand up to touch her face before he pulled her down to kiss her. "Would you like to stay here with me instead of going to greet our guest?"  
  
I didn't wait to hear her answer, I knew what it would be. The two had been lovers for many years and were most comfortable in the presence of each other. Nezumi would stay with Neko for a few moments on the wall before they retired to find a more private place.   
  
Instead, I turned myself into my other form, that of a dog. It was a simple transformation, just picture myself as a dog and then I have four feet and a tail. I couldn't even start to tell you how this is done and, I have to say, that makes me very sad. My own child, my daughter, Jing, is not a member of our family. She is my daughter and I love her dearly, but I don't love her mother. Her mother is human and I can't bring myself to love a human. It's because of my daughter that I know you who read this will not have our natural ability to change into our animal forms by will alone. I can see that Kwan, our newest rooster, is only able to change when she is hugged by a male. I'll come to that part of the story later.  
  
I ran to the other side of the house in my dog's body, finding it more comfortable for running, but there were no sounds of fighting or other danger, so I'm pretty sure that everyone's all right. It was times like this that I hated the size of our house. It might be only one house, but the bloody thing is huge! By the time I'd rounded the corner to the main door, most everyone had gone out into the back garden. I had to go through several halls before coming to the large room Ka-Kani used to entertain visitors. The doors were wide opened, showing her fine garden and the younger children were playing under the watchful eyes of the adults of our family while Ka-Kani spoke with our visitor from her seat on the porch.   
  
"It's a most kind invitation, great Kami." Ka-Kani said. She was a young woman and full of life. Her hair was black as ink and her skin was darkly tanned from her time in the sun. She loved nothing better than to be outside, running or playing in the garden with the children.  
  
I knew when Ka-Kani had said, Kami, who our visitor was. How strange that he would come to our home. Still, the mysterious Kami are difficult to fathom. This must be D, the one we've heard has come into power. His parent had, reputedly, given up his active role in the world long ago.  
  
"You're all invited, of course." D said. He stood behind Ka-Kani slightly, ornate robes, finer than any human could hope for, falling to the floor and dark hair falling down his back, to his hips. His scent was familiar and most welcomed. We were honored to have a guest of this magnitude. I will admit, I felt no fear or alarm at his presence in our house. He was a Kami, a guardian of all living things, there was no reason he should have wished us harm.  
  
D, smiling, charmingly at the head of our family who sat regally on the porch. Ka-Kani was looking at D, though I had the distinct feeling she was paying more attention to the children of her family who were playing in the garden. The older members of the family, Ryu and Ondori, stood around Ka-Kani. From their relaxed postures, I knew they also didn't view D's visit as a threat, but they were listening carefully to his words.  
  
"Thank you." Ka'Kani said, inclining her head slightly. "My family would be honored to attend, great Kami. Though I'm afraid you'll have to wait a time for us. We will celebrate New Years with you, but not until after the third day. We have our own celebrations to see to, a tradition that must never be broken."  
  
"Oh?" D asked.  
  
"Yes." But Ka-Kani would say no more about it. It was not wise to be disrespectful to a Kami, especially not one of D's standing, but it was unheard of for any creature, even a Kami, to know about the dance. This year, I knew, it was Tiaga's turn to lead the dancing. It was a private celebration and one that couldn't be missed.  
  
D nodded his understanding as I walked closer. He no doubt knew I was there, but he made no attempt to acknowledge me. His face was beautiful, so indescribably beautiful that my crude drawing of him doesn't do this person justice. "There is a problem, however." D continued, sounding worried. "I understand that there is a member of your family who is not fond of parties. Is that true?"  
  
Ka-Kani chuckled and leaned back, resting her hand on that of Ryu, the dragon. He was never far from her side and Ka-Kani was very grateful for his support. "You speak of our dear Neko, I presume. It's true, our cat isn't overly fond of large groups of people. He becomes very uncomfortable and irritable if he stays for to long in a group of people."  
  
"The last thing I want is for your cat to be uncomfortable. Tell him that he need not come if he does not wish to." D's voice was soft and kind.  
  
Ka-Kani shook her head. "No. He will come. It would be disrespectful to leave him out when you've gone to all the trouble to invite us."  
  
D simply nodded and began to walk away. "Then I shall see you all soon."  
  
I didn't see what happened when D was leaving the estate, I stayed with Ka-Kani, though now I wish I had gone to see him away. Perhaps I could have prevented when he'd obviously been planning if I had gone to see him off the estate.   
  
For what I write next, I am relying on what Nezumi told me happened when D met her near the gates of the wall.  
  
Nezumi and Neko had been slowly making their way to their shared room when they encountered D in one of the many winding hallways in the house. He was, in fact, standing just outside their room and waiting patiently as if he knew they'd been coming. "And who are you?" Nezumi said politely when Neko scowled at the person blocking the entrance to their room. His hand had tightened on Nezumi's before he turned and walked away without a word. Neko really didn't like strangers and would go far out of his way to avoid them.  
  
"You may call me, D." The Kami said, giving her a slight bow. "I apologize for frightening your companion."  
  
Nezumi laughed. "Don't let him hear that, his ego couldn't take the pain. May I presume that you've come here to speak with us? I saw you speaking with Ka-Kani, are you lost on your way out? You look troubled, Kami." Nezumi said as she bent and picked up a rat off the floor. She held it gently, naturally loving the large rodent that she shared so much with. "Do you require anything?"  
  
"I am worried about one member of your family, Nezumi. In fact, I am pleased your companion has left you and now we may speak privately."  
  
"Oh?" That got her attention more than anything else had. She didn't like the turn this conversation was taking, but was weary of what she said to the Kami.  
  
"I have invited your family to a New Year's celebration and the head of your family has agreed to come to my home for the celebration. The cat, Neko, would not be at ease at this celebration, there will be to many people there and I am told he dislikes crowds of people. The head of your family has assured me that he will attend, but I would not want for him to be unhappy."  
  
Nezumi looked thoughtful and considered the problem. Of course she hadn't wanted her lover to be unhappy. "I will tell him that you worry for him and that he can stay home."  
  
"No, that won't do. He will feel obligated, because the head of your family has already promised his attendance."  
  
She thought a moment more. "If I tell him the party is another day, he will not attend and I will confess my lie afterwards, so he won't get in trouble. He will be freed from doing something that will be unpleasant for him and Ka-Kani will have no blame in breaking her word to you. Will that work for you, great Kami?"  
  
"Yes. That will work very, very well." He smiled and, Nezumi told me, she didn't like that smile for some reason.  
  
Nezumi had no idea why the Kami would lie about not wanting Neko to come with us, though he obviously did. It would become clearer to us as time went by that the Kami often lied. We had no way of knowing that he would lie to us, he had no reason to.  
  
So we all went to the party after the night of our dance. We always dance, it's our greatest tradition and one that is not to be missed. Ka-Kani was not pleased when no one could find Neko the morning we were supposed to leave for the Kami's home, but Nezumi had known that he was still sleeping peacefully in the sun on the other side of the estate.  
  
I hesitate to write this.  
  
It brings such pain.  
  
But, I suppose all must be recorded or nothing will make any sense.   
  
We were betrayed, though we didn't know it for a long time. The day of the celebration, Kami D met us at the door of his house, which was, like ours, hidden deep in the forest. He welcomed us with open arms and we found his home a great and wondrous place. He offered us rich food and drink suitable for royalty. It was the food and the drink and the scent of incense in the air that clouded our minds, I think. I think that, for me, anyway, it was the incense that affected me more than the food or drink. My heightened sense of smell caused the incense to make my head instantly fuzzy. I remember thinking how wonderful everything was and that I would like to stay in this place forever.  
  
I don't know how long we stayed in that place, drugged prisoners who were treated as guests. I was woken by something painfully sharp digging against my face, but my mind refused to wake from its slumber entirely and I looked up at the creature that had hurt me with disinterest. "You hurt me." I said and my voice sounded strange, even to me. The pain was dulling away quickly, thanks to the incense, but the creature wasn't at all happy.  
  
I'd never seen a creature like this. It looked sort of like a pale yellow rabbit, but it also had tiny horns on its head and bat-like wings fluttering wildly as it hovered in front of me. ~Wake up, you stupid dog!~  
  
I'm not sure how I understood its words. I'm sure it wasn't speaking any human language, but I did understand. Then again, perhaps my mind was playing tricks on me and it was just a hallucination. "I'm tired." I told it and that was true. The smell of the incense was making me terribly tired. Why did it have to wake me up?  
  
~Sleep any longer and you'll never wake up!~  
  
I yawned lazily and turned my head to look around. Everyone in my family was laying down, sound asleep, in a large room. The floor was piled high with pillows. They all looked so comfortable that I wanted so badly to go back to sleep. I let my eyes start to close again only to feel the creature's sharp claws on my face again.  
  
"Stop it!" I complained, swatting it away with a hand.  
  
~Why do I bother with you foolish creatures?~ The rabbit thing suddenly stopped and flew up, hiding in the rafters of the high ceiling. ~Do not tell him I am here!~ It ordered. ~Close your eyes and pretend to sleep.~  
  
I'm not sure why I did it, but I'm glad I did. I obeyed the rabbit thing and closed my eyes again, waiting to see what would happen.   
  
D walked in at that moment and I watched him though half-closed eyes. He looked around at my family carefully before he went to a metal brazier that held the burning incense. With a simple wave of his hand over the smoking incense, the incense stopped burning and I could smell the air starting to clear. Around me, the others stirred, waking up slowly.  
  
"I have sad news for you all." D said when we were all finally awake and wondering what had happened to us. I'd thought that it was all the food and drink that had laid us low, but Tiaga didn't drink, Hisuji didn't allow him to, yet, and he had been sleeping just like the rest of us.   
  
D went to Ka-kani, who was having a harder time of waking up than the rest of us, took her hand and held it tenderly. "I am most sorry to inform you, your cat has died."  
  
A collective gasp from those who didn't immediately start crying filled the room. I admit it...I was one of those who'd started to cry. It wasn't just grief for our lost family, but fear. Without the cat, we are terribly weak. We need the cat. Between now and the moment our new cat reaches maturity, we are all vulnerable.  
  
Ka-kani's eyes widened with shock and she instantly pulled her hand away from his. "D-dead? He...he can't be dead. Not Neko."  
  
"I saw his body with my own eyes, dear lady. I can't say what killed him, but he was well and truly dead. I would have recovered the body, but it was destroyed and I didn't want to cause your family pain by seeing it. He has been buried with utmost respect."  
  
Ka-kani started shaking and turned her head to call out, "Ryu? Ondori?" Quickly, the dragon and the rooster came to Ka-Kani, pushing D out of the way as they comforted the head of their family. "What are we to do? Without the cat, we're in great danger." Ka-kani bowed her head onto Ondori's shoulder. "We must all be careful. No one is allowed to leave the estate until the next cat is born." She looked at everyone sternly. It wasn't often that the head of our family would give out orders like this, but this was a dangerous situation.  
  
"You will stay with me." D told us generously. "My home is vast and there is more than enough room for you all. I have the power to give you all the protection you need in this time of grief. You are weakened by this loss, are you not?"  
  
Ka-kani nodded, still in shock. "Neko was our...he was..." A single tear streaked down her face. "Oh, god, our dear Neko!" She buried her face in Ondori's shoulder again. "We won't survive without him. We can't! The cat is the center of our family."  
  
I was grateful for D's kindness, allowing us to stay in his home. There was nothing that could happen in his home without his wanting it to happen. No danger could enter and he'd as good as given us the run of his home. If I hadn't been so grateful, I'd have seen the danger sooner. For a while, I was more concerned with seeing my family through the depression that normally comes after a death, I didn't have time or desire to see that our safety wasn't all that safe. I didn't even see the look of satisfaction on D's face every time he came to visit us, at least not until it was pointed out to me.  
  
~He's tricked you all.~ The rabbit thing visited again, late one night when I was the only one awake.   
  
"He's a Kami." I pointed out. "Why would a Kami want to hurt us?"  
  
The rabbit thing fluttered down and landed on the floor in front of me, looking up with a face that was somewhere between cute and stern. "Because your family has power and he's jealous of that power. He knows he can't destroy you, but he will do his best to break you. He will take away all that you hold dear. He's told you that your cat has been murdered, hasn't he?~  
  
I clenched my teeth at the rabbit thing's words. I wanted to get out of D's home to find whoever had killed my family. Neko was to gentle to fight back against an attacker; he didn't deserve such a terrible death. "Yes, he did."  
  
~He didn't tell you that he was the one who killed your cat, did he?~  
  
That stunned me for a moment, and I glared at the rabbit thing. "What are you talking about?"  
  
~I saw it all. I saw your Neko waking up from his nap and realizing that everyone was gone. He followed your scent to this place and tried to get in. He was so furious that he'd been forgotten and screamed as he beat upon the door, "Let me in! Open this damned door!" But he lost that anger quickly. No one answered him, you were all soundly sleeping. He was afraid that you'd all been hurt or killed and he pounded on the door even harder.  
  
It was D who opened the door at last and quietly stepped outside. "I'm afraid they won't be doing that." He said.  
  
"What are you talking about? My family's in there." Your cat asked. He, like you, wasn't afraid of D.  
  
"Yes, but they will not be going to be coming out. They will never leave me." D killed you cat with a swift strike to the heart from a dagger he'd had hidden up his sleeve. The dagger had been coated with several poisons, enough to take the life of the strong cat. "You will be leaving your family, but be assured that the cat will live on." For a final blow, D thrust the dagger your cat's head.~  
  
Then the rabbit thing stopped talking and just watched me. I tried not to believe it. No Kami would willingly take a life, especially for such a petty reason as jealously. "Y-you're lying." I said, standing up and walking away from the rabbit thing. "You must be lying! I still don't even know who you are, I don't know what you are, for that matter! Why should I believe you over a Kami?!"  
  
The rabbit thing flapped its wings again and took flight. Before it left out a tiny window, it said to me, ~You shouldn't. You have no reason to believe my word over his. But, think on this, has D let you out of his home for one moment since you've come here? Has he let you even run outside? Can you really take the chance that I might be telling you the truth?~   
  
I stared at the rabbit thing until it disappeared out the window. Could I take that chance? D certainly has the power to kill us. But the motive? Jealously? I couldn't believe it. Not at first.  
  
Eventually, our new cat was born, much to our joy. Ka-Kani's sudden bout of weakness and illness would surely now be cured. All we would have to do would be to wait until the cat matured. This was the way it always was.  
  
When our new cat was born, her skin was a hard shell, like the exoskeleton of an insect. Her arms and legs were long and powerful, even as an infant, with hard claws. All in all, the cat resembled something of an insect rather than anything feline, with a stench that could peel paint.   
  
For months we'd been living in D's home, but now we would be close to leaving. We would be able to go back to our own home. I didn't like thinking about it to hard, but the warnings from the rabbit thing plagued my mind and I was becoming suspicious of everything around us.  
  
Our happiness on the day of the cat's birth was short lived, however. Her mother had barely time to hold her baby when D swept into the room and looked down at our baby. It cried in hunger and from the cold as it flailed its massive arms around, begging to be cuddled.  
  
"Your cat is ill." D announced suddenly as he bent closer to look at her. "Very ill."  
  
I didn't like him being so close to her, to our newest cat, but there was little I could do.  
  
Ka-Kani was all ready weakened from the loss of the cat and, even now, she was laying down in a bed, barely awake. She had to save her failing energy. In fact, I rather thought she'd spend the next few weeks sleeping, in fact. She would probably spend most of her time in bed until the cat was able to take its proper place in the family.  
  
D took the baby from her mother's arms as if there would be no question about his right to do so. There were outraged voices raised from the family. She was to young to be taken from her mother! I kept my mouth shut, but I told myself that he'd best have a good excuse for what he was doing or I would do my best to rip his throat out.  
  
"I'm afraid your new cat will die."  
  
That statement made the room go silent. "Die?" I found myself speaking for the first time since D had entered the room. "She can't die. She was just born. She looks healthy."  
  
"But I have better insight into life, do you deny that?"   
  
How could I? He was a Kami. No creature could understand so much as they did. "What can we do? We have to do something to save her." I hated the desperation in my voice. I hated feeling so weak and powerless.  
  
D pulled the baby to him and cuddled it against him. "I have a room for sick animals. She will fit well with my other ill pets. I will bring her to you when she is well." With that, and our flagging trust, D left the room as swiftly as he'd come, leaving all of us behind again. I had a dreadful feeling about leaving our little Neko with D.  
  
Time passed and we begged to see little Neko. We pleaded for D to just let us see her and speak with her a few minutes. "She's to ill." He replied many times. "It would be very bad for her to leave my protection right now. It could kill her."  
  
In the end, Neko's weeping mother persuaded D to let us all see our youngest member. He came back a short time after holding a tiny clawed hand. Our Neko wasn't so tiny now. I hadn't realized how much time had passed. She was walking.   
  
"What's happened to her?" Ondori asked, looking to D, worried. "She's still in her infant form? She should have gone to change by now. It's been ten years, why is she still walking around? Her metamorphosis hasn't even begun yet."  
  
The little cat seemed strangely shy, almost frightened of us, but I supposed, at the time, that it would be only natural. After all, she had never met any of us. The little cat half-way hid behind D, clutching his robe and peeking around him at us. She still looked healthy enough to me.  
  
It was Nezumi who first tried to approach our kitten. She smiled at the tiny female She was tiny, barely ten years old, with an untamed mope of orange, curly hair half hiding her eyes.   
  
  
  
Nezumi had been devastated by Neko's death, almost to the point that she wanted to kill herself. Now, she wasn't going to let this chance slide by. The spirit of her dead lover was back, even if she was still a little immature. Nezumi seemed eager to make a good impression on the child. "Neko?" She smiled warmly and held out a hand to the child. "Neko-chan, do you remember me?"  
  
"I'm not Neko." The girl said. "My name's Jai."  
  
It was scandalous. D had given Neko a human name?! We all looked at D, accusingly, but he seemed unfazed by anything and stood perfectly happy with the way this was going. Still, Nezumi wasn't about to let the girl go without talking to her. "We've all been terribly worried about you. How are you feeling?"  
  
Though all this, this little Neko hardly reacted at all. She didn't reach out to Nezumi, as I'd had thought she would, but stared at the offered hand as if expecting it to strike her. She wasn't at all like the Neko usually was, but still, she'd been raised apart from the family, something that had never happened before.  
  
"Neko-chan, you don't have to be afraid of me. I knew the last Neko, very well. He was very dear to me and I want to be close to you, too. I'm called Nezumi."   
  
The little neko's eyes narrowed and I suddenly wondered what, exactly, D had been teaching the little Nezumi all this time. Whatever he'd taught her hadn't been good. The kitten suddenly dashed away from D and threw herself at Nezumi, furiously. The kitten's attack was so unexpected and so savage, it took us all a moment to realize what had happened. Though still a child, the kitten was strong and vicious. She clawed at Nezumi, looking as if she'd really kill her.  
  
We had to tear the kitten off Nezumi and it took three of us to do it. Nezumi was screaming in pain and crying when we took the kitten off her and held her down. "Let go!" Ryu shouted, trying not to hurt the kitten as he pulled at her, but it was hard. "What are you doing, Neko?!"  
  
The kitten only screamed at Nezumi, who lay on the floor, holding her face with her hands as she moaned and cried. "Your fault! It's all your fault!" Her face was twisted with hate while she screamed insanely at Nezumi. "I'll kill you! With my own bare hands, I'll kill you!"  
  
D calmed the kitten with a touch to her arm. The kitten fell silent and stood by D's side and the two of them watched us tend to Nezumi. It was horrible. Nezumi's face had been ripped to shreds, her beauty was destroyed and there was no way to heal it. "Please..." Nezumi wailed, her top lip had also been torn by the kitten's sharp claws, ripping her face open from her lip to her ear. It was hard for her to speak and her voice, that had been sweet as a spring rain, was ugly and mangled. "Please, help me! Neko! My Neko!" Blood poured from her mouth at every word she spoke.  
  
I looked from Nezumi to D and then down to the kitten who still stayed by D's side. "Why?" I asked.  
  
"She is ill. I told you all that long ago, but you needed to see for yourself." D replied. "She is not safe to be with you." He turned to the kitten and handed her something said, "Put your beads on, child."  
  
The kitten obeyed, pulling over her large, clawed hand, a bracelet made of red and white alternating beats. She turned instantly into a small girl with orange curls hanging down to her shoulders. She was naked, but didn't seem to care and still glared with crimson eyes at Nezumi. If what she'd done to Nezumi made her feel any guilt, she hid it very well.  
  
"What is that?" Ryu asked. He was trying to staunch the wounds the kitten had given Nezumi, but had seen the unnatural transformation, too. "She shouldn't look human, not yet, she's to young."  
  
"Protection. This bracelet will keep her weak and helpless, unable to hurt you. I make her wear it so her savage form won't hurt anyone. I fear it's her illness that makes her so violent. You must always keep the bracelet on her or she'll kill you all without even thinking about it." He gave the girl a push towards us. "You did want to keep her with you, didn't you?"   
  
"Get her away!" Ka-Kani, whom I'd thought was sleeping still, staggered forward to glare at the girl. Her eyes were wide and shining with hate. "No member of my family has ever hurt another member of my family." As small as Ka-Kani was, it seemed that she towered over the kitten. "How dare you!? How dare you lay hands on Nezumi, evil brat! Monster!" She screamed.  
  
The kitten's reaction was something to see. Though she'd never met any of us before this, our devotion to the head of our family has always been deeply ingrained into our minds. It was a desire to please the head of our family and, it seemed that our new kitten had inherited it. The kitten now backed down, cowering away from the furious Ka-Kani.  
  
"You aren't apart of my family!" Ka-Kani went on, raging in Nezumi's defense. "Never again will you be apart of my family, Neko! All of you who hear this, no cat will ever be apart of our family again! I never want to lay eyes on you again! Disgusting, EVIL, monster!"  
  
At the last scream, I caught Ka-Kani by the arm and pulled her close to myself. She was coming dangerously close to attacking D, whom the kitten was hiding behind. That would be very bad. "Quiet," I whispered to Ka-Kani, praying that she'd calm down. "You don't know what you're saying. She's sick."  
  
"Then let her die!" Ka-Kani spit. She let me lead her away from D and the kitten. "She's attacked one of our family, she doesn't deserve our protection anymore!"  
  
With Ka-Kani away from her, the kitten regained her courage. She snarled again, "Hate you, Nezumi! You made me a monster. I'll rip your life away!" She made to charged Nezumi again, but D picked her up easily by the arm and carried the screaming kitten out of the room, leaving us all alone again.  
  
"I...I can't believe she did that."  
  
"Poor Nezumi."  
  
"What could have made Neko like that?"  
  
The comments went on and on as we tried to do our best to bandage Nezumi's face and relieve her pain. The blood was spreading, though, seeping though the bandages very quickly and her breathing was becoming harsher. We all gathered around, knowing what was coming. "My...my Neko..." Nezumi breathed. "My...save her..." Her eyes focused on me. "Please...save her." Then the light left her eyes and she died.  
  
As simple as that, our lives were changed in that moment.   
  
Neko had killed Nezumi. It was unheard of. Impossible. We never hurt each other. Sure, our family has arguments, all families do, but we never hurt each other. Then Ka-Kani banishes the kitten from our family? That's never happened. But Ka-Kani's violent reaction hadn't been an isolated moment. Over the years of being away from the cat, the head of our family had been going mad. I don't like to admit that, but it's the truth and you'll need the truth.  
  
I looked around at our family, everyone crying, one of us mad, and one of us banished and not even with us. This had to end. "We have to get out of here." I whispered. Our family...what had happened to our family?  
  
For some reason, whenever I tried to think of a way out of our situation, our imprisonment by D, that incense would appear in the air again and I'd fall back asleep. I never knew how long the sleep lasted for, but when I woke the plans I'd made to help my family escape were forgotten, like a distant dream. Granted, D had never actually said that we were his prisoners, but neither were we free to go. The apartments he'd given us were worthy of royalty, but it was nothing compared to the freedom we'd lost.  
  
The years passed and our family died and were reborn. Nezumi was reborn, but D didn't come for him as we feared he would. I was beginning to suspect that he was planning to take all of our children away from us one at a time. If that wasn't his plan, then what was he keeping us for?  
  
Suicide was a constant nightmare and I began to realize how right that rabbit thing was. We were prisoners here. D constantly found excuses not to allow us outside of his home and now Ka-Kani was so sick that we feared we'd never be able to leave. Her sickness was more in her mind than in her body and very slowly, as time passed, we could all see Ka-Kani going mad. It was little things at first. She would get moody and irritable where once she'd been happy and cheerful all the time. I'd thought it was only depression, but it went far beyond that.   
  
One morning, I woke and found her dead. She'd sliced her own wrists.  
  
Strangely, after all these years, the rabbit thing appeared to me again. Again, I was alone when it flew into our home within D's home. ~This is your chance.~ The rabbit thing said. ~I'm going to distract him for a while. Take your family and go. I can't buy you much time, but I will advise you this, take your family far away. Disguise them if you must, but don't return to China.~   
  
"But, I have questions. You seem to know what's going on around here and..."  
  
~There is no time! Take your family and go! Through this door and down the long hall with red lanterns hanging from the ceiling and you will find the exit. Don't hesitate or you'll be lost!~ It flew away and I ran to wake my family.   
  
The new head of our family was little more than an infant now, still in diapers. Our Nezumi was a toddler, and didn't like being woken in the middle of the night. It was quite the feat to keep her from crying. Fortunately, everyone else in the family were adults and could help with the escape. I had no idea how the little rabbit thing could have distracted a Kami, but it did and we escaped the home without any trouble. Our only problem came when we'd finally gotten outside and my family started running, heedless of the importance of what we were leaving behind. The cat.  
  
I paused and looked back at the seemingly innocent house that had been our prison for so many years. I knew that Neko, Jai, was still trapped inside. I had to find her. Without the cat, our family is as good as dead.   
  
I ran back to D's house, not even bothering to tell my family what I was doing. If I was going to die from this, then let me die alone. I swung my fists, pounding on the doors, but they wouldn't open. I pulled with all my might and then tried slamming my shoulder against the door, hoping to break it off his hinges. Nothing worked and the door stood strong.  
  
~What are you doing?~ The rabbit thing appeared again, fluttering over my head. ~I told you to get out of here! He's gone looking for your family!~  
  
"I can't leave, yet. Our cat is still in there, I can't leave her alone here!"  
  
But the rabbit thing didn't seem to care at all. It made a disgusted sound. ~Fine. I'll bring the cat to you when it's safe. He holds her to closely now, she's very valuable to him. The child is sold to humans in her cat form and then kills them. D hates humans, he hates them all and he would have your cat kill them. She's strong and fast and, disguised as a house cat, no one suspects anything about her nature. She is the prize of his collection.~  
  
To say that I didn't like our Neko being apart of someone's collection, was an understatement. It made me furious, she was only a child! How could anyone force her to kill?  
  
The rabbit thing didn't like my wasting time. ~Go! I'll bring her to you when safety permits! Go!~  
  
I had no choice. I couldn't help my family by standing at this door and trying to force my way in. So, I left her there and hated myself for it.  
  
I ran, trying to catch up with the rest of my family. I knew that they'd all probably taken to their animal forms to escape all the faster, but I wished I knew where they'd gone. I'd have to hunt them down one at a time, or so I'd thought.   
  
In a clearing, not far from D's terrible house, I found them all. They were in a trance, I think. All of them sat together in their animal forms, staring at D. I never knew how he'd caught up with them, but it must have been easy for a Kami. I felt my heart start to beat faster as I hoped the worst thing he would do would be to take them all back to his house again. Not wanting myself to be seen, I stayed in my human form, but lay down on the ground, hoping that the bushes would hide me from D.  
  
D spoke. "I see. You have finally managed to escape with my father's help. No matter. My business with your family is concluded." D held out a long nailed hand towards my family and spoke in a low, smooth voice. "You will all forget the cat's role in your family. You hate the cat. It doesn't belong with you. It's a monster. A hateful, dangerous monster. The cat can do nothing to benefit your family." Then, he was gone.  
  
I felt my heart drop into my stomach with despair. That was probably the most terrible thing D could have done to my family. I hate him. I will always hate him.  
  
It turned out that D knew what he was doing, as I found out years later.  
  
In the end, we all left China. It wasn't safe. Though no one remembered the purpose of the cat, including the cat herself, everyone remembered being prisoners of D and no one wanted to repeat the experience.   
  
We went to Japan and decided that we'd have to blend into human society. We had to hide from D. He might come looking for us. It wasn't my decision, actually, but a majority vote. If D had wanted to take us back, he could have done it when he tampered with everyone's minds.   
  
I don't know what's going on. I don't know why he kept us so long only to let us go. I don't know why he wants to have our family hate the cat. I don't even know what we're going to do. We can't stay in China, none of the family would stand for that.  
  
I did know one thing, though. "If we want to stay hidden from the Kami, we'll have to be humans." I said this one night as we all camped around a rough fire. We'd become so used to living in comfort and safety that not one of us knew much about survival in the wilderness. We were in the forests of Japan and trying to figure out what we should do. Humans were the most populous animals on Earth; it would be simple to hide amongst them. "We are the only ones of our kind on Earth, it'll be easy for any Kami to find us as we are."  
  
Someone asked me how we would change what we are.  
  
"We won't." I answered. "Our children will be the ones changed." It was my very unpopular plan to breed with humans. No one in the family liked that idea much, but there's nothing else we can do. If we want to live, if we want to stay safe, we have to destroy ourselves. We would take human mates and...ugg...breed. I didn't like the thought much myself, either. Humans, of all things. But they were the most compatible of all animals. How was I to know the trouble my plan would cause?  
  
So we took the name Souma from a broken sign we found hanging over an old house. The house was large, but in very bad disrepair. It stood in a deserted village and obviously hadn't been lived in for many years. It was perfect. With hard work we repaired the house and had a place to live. Then we set out to find jobs in the human world.   
  
Jai was returned to us one sunny spring morning. By now, I had been a grandfather for more than ten years, both of my grandsons were half-humans and one of them was the young sheep of our family. When I opened the door of my home and found Jai standing on my doorstep with a small sack over one shoulder and a cross look on her face, I almost died of heart failure. She was no longer the angry child I remembered, but she was a nearly full-grown young woman. Her red curls had been kept short and her crimson eyes were still angry, but she said nothing for the longest time.  
  
"Q-chan tol' me to wait here for you." She said at last, looking at me from under her uncombed curls. "He said you'd be better to me than the Count was."  
  
I must have seemed like an idiot to her, now that I think back on that moment. I stared at her for the longest time. She looked like a beggar who'd just walked around the world. She was to thin to be healthy and her eyes were darkly shadowed with her malnutrition. Her clothes were little more than rags and there were terrible scars on her arms and legs.   
  
"What're you staring at?" She demanded roughly, clenching her fist as if she would fight at a moment's notice.  
  
I invited her in for a cup of tea and showed her in. I don't think she trusted me and I wondered if she at all remembered our first meeting. We said nothing about Nezumi and when I'd asked about her childhood with D, she would turn cold and refuse to say anything. That told me all I had to know. She'd mentioned, at some point during that day, how she'd longed to get away from the Count, as she called the Kami, and I wondered if it was D who'd made the scars on her arms and legs.  
  
"When Q-chan tol' me you were lookin' for me, I jumped at the chance." She held the tea cup I'd given her awkwardly, as if she was unused to such things, and sat on the floor with her legs bent nearly up to her chin. "Didn't think anyone would want me, I was kinda plannin' to just go to one of the humans the Count sent me with and just stay with them. Most of 'em were nicer than he was. Some of 'em weren't."  
  
"Who is Q-chan?" I asked, although I had a good idea who she was talking about.  
  
Jai smiled brightly, the first smile I'd seen since she'd come here. "He was my friend. He said you knew him, he's a babbit."  
  
"A rabbit with bat wings and horns?"  
  
"Yeah, that's him. He said you folks wanted to find me and you'd be better to me then the Count was." While she was speaking, I noticed that Jai still wore the red and white beaded bracelet on her wrist.   
  
"Jai," I asked, using her human name. "Why do you were that bracelet?"  
  
She scowled and looked away from me. "You know."  
  
"No, I don't. I remember that you were...very angry when we first met. D told you to put the bracelet on and you turned into a human form. Did he never give you any other reason to wear the bracelet?"  
  
Jai set the cup down with clatter on the floor, though she didn't actually break it. "I'm a monster, you saw me. I kill people. Did you know that? The Count used to send me out ta kill. If he didn't like someone, he told me ta kill them. It was easy." She said that last part defiantly, as she was expecting me to say something self-righteous about how wrong it was to kill.  
  
"Did you enjoy it?" I asked.   
  
Jai looked right at me this time, without a hint of a tear in her hard eyes. "No."  
  
When I took Jai to meet the rest of the family, they hated her at the first mention that she was the cat, but no one really knew why. She was greeted by hostility, but didn't seem bothered by it. "I know my place in the world." She said calmly when everyone was glaring at her.   
  
They insisted that she keep the bracelet on, least she become a monster again. In truth, not a single person here had ever seen the original form of the cat, except myself.  
  
Yes. I was the last of my generation and the last of the true blooded of my family. Everyone else has died. Did I tell you how we die? We don't age, I suspect you've figured that out already. We must be killed by violence, either murdered or suicide. Both are terrible ways to die, but my family had not been able to hang on for long. Suicide became almost commonplace for a time. Everyone else around me, they were all the half-breeds, the children we'd made with humans. They knew I wasn't human, after all, I still looked no more than thirty for all that I was a grandfather. That didn't bother them so much as the fear inspired by the stories they'd been told about the murderous cat.   
  
Jai touched the red and white bracelet carelessly. "I won't take it off, you don't have to worry about that." Her eyes took on a distant look. "To many bad memories."   
  
I didn't try to convince any of my family that the stories weren't true. I had never been able to convince the original family that D had tampered with their minds and memories, so why should I even try with these children who only feared the red haired young woman. Woman? Ha. She's nothing but a child. I could smell that as I stood next to her. She may look like an adult human, but her true form is still immature and I have a dread suspicion that it stays that way because of that bracelet.  
  
These children, the children of my family, can no longer change at will, they have to be hugged by a human of the opposite sex. It makes such a mess of things and we're lucky that at least the talent to erase memories still runs strong in our dragon. The human's we've chosen as mates can't always deal with our nature, nor can the other children. I see our family isolating it's self, but not only from the outside world. They have having to isolate themselves from our own family.   
  
You see, not all of our children are able to change. I suppose you all ready know that. Many of the children are normal, average humans, except that they have our blood in their veins. We are letting the children think they are normal humans, there is no reason to worry them. One day their children or grandchildren may become the ones who change, but they are allowed to live in ignorance for the time. The ones who are able to change are told about our family, but they are all told about the evil of the cat. I'm afraid that in just a few generations, my family will forget all that it was.   
  
There are still only ever fourteen members of our close family, though after years of her being with us, my foolish family has all but alienated our cat and Jai spends less and less time with us. She's unhappy, but she tells me it is better than being a pet of the Count. She still calls him that, as if she's afraid he will come back and punish her for being disrespectful. If she leaves us all together...I'd hate to think what would happen to us. If only I could convince her to take the bracelet off, just for a while. I think, if she'd just do that, everything would get better.  
  
That's the end of my story. May your life be happier than mine was.~  
  
Shigure-  
  
Shigure looked up from the book when he came to the end of Inu's writing. His face was pale and he felt cold all over. He tried to turn the page, but his hand was shaking terribly and it took him a few tries before he could do it.   
  
'That's not fair.' Shigure thought, scowling at the book. 'He left to much out. What was the cat's important job? Who was this D, anyway?' But an important section of what he'd read stood out at Shigure. 'He said they used to be able to change back and forth between human and animal whenever they wanted to. No...not quite. He said they weren't human. Does that mean we aren't human, either? He said the cat's bracelet was red and white, but Toma's was black and white. What happened to it? Whatever happened to that D guy?'  
  
Curiosity just peeked, Shigure continued reading. The next page took up with different handwriting, listing off different family members and their corresponding animals. He read and read and read, until the sun had set and moon had risen and stars filled the night sky. At one point, he had to get up to turn the lights on, but other than that, he was lost in the past that the book revealed to him. It was like a diary spanning many generations and Shigure grew more and more worried the more that he read it. Every head of the family had gone mad. Every cat had been separated from the family. Every single generation of Souma's had been unhappy. There was abuse, neglect, grief, and a coldness within the family.   
  
'It's just like now.' Shigure thought, horrified. 'If it hadn't been for that D guy, what would we be like? Maybe we'd all be happy. We wouldn't have to hide from everyone.' It saddened Shigure to learned that it wasn't just his part of the family that was always unhappy. For centuries, all of the Souma family had been sad. 'How terribly depressing.'  
  
"Shigure?"  
  
Shigure looked up when he heard Hatori's voice outside the house.   
  
Almost without thinking, Shigure closed the book and slid it back into the closet, out of sight. He couldn't let anyone see it, not even his two closest friends. Shigure wasn't even sure that that D person was a danger anymore, it had been so many hundreds of years, after all. He couldn't be alive now. But then again, Inu had said that they used to live forever, almost... 'I need time to think about what I read.' Shigure decided. 'When I've thought about it for a while, then I'll know what to do.' Even at his young age, Shigure knew that what he'd read was vital to his family, even if he didn't quite understand it.  
  
"'Gure!" Ayame's indignant voice brought Shigure out of his thoughts. "Where have you been? We've been waiting at your house for simply ages!" Ayame planted his fists on his hips and pouted at Shigure.  
  
"Oh, did I forget the time?" Shigure grinned at his friends. "So sorry. Just going through some of Toma's things, that's all."   
  
"Forget the time?" Hatori asked, with a slightly raised eyebrow. "It's past ten at night. No one's seen you all day and you know you'll get in trouble if anyone finds you in the cat's house."  
  
"Awwww," Shigure smiled sweetly at Hatori. "You wouldn't tell anyone, would you?"  
  
Sigh. "Of course not." Hatori said. "But we'd better get going. Your birthday celebration's already started, everyone's expecting you."  
  
Shigure left the book where he'd shoved it in the closet, though he would go get it later and put it in a safe place in his own house. He had so many unanswered questions, but most of all he was afraid.  
  
Afraid that D person would come back and try to take the family again. 'I'll protect them.' Shigure thought, even as he laughed at some joke Ayame told. 'I'll protect them all.'  
  
To be continued... 


	5. The Rat and the Cat

Petshop of Horrors X-over Fruits Basket  
  
Long Denied  
  
Chapter 5: The Rat and the Cat  
  
Head of the Family- Akito 5  
  
Dog-Shigure 10  
  
Snake-Ayame 10  
  
Dragon-Hatori 10  
  
Rat-Yuki newborn  
  
Boar-Kagura 2  
  
Horse-Rin 3  
  
Monkey-Ritsu 2  
  
Cat-Kyou newborn  
  
Hatori-  
  
"I had a dream last night." Shigure told them softly.  
  
On a bridge that crossed the tiny river, which meandered through the estate, Hatori spent the evening with his two friends. Shigure shouldn't have been out, Hatori was sure of that. He was still sick from the flu he'd caught just a few days ago, but no matter what Hatori had said, Shigure had insisted on coming to the river only telling Hatori that he wanted to look at the water.  
  
Hatori had always liked looking into the water.  
  
It wasn't a large river, by any stretch of the imagination, but it was just the right size and depth that the water was black at night and Hatori could see his reflection as he leaned over the edge and gazed down himself. His reflection was dark and looked up at him with sadness that seemed so deep that Hatori looked away. 'It's stupid.' He thought. 'I shouldn't be sad. Father died a long time ago, he can't hurt me anymore. I moved into my own house last month and mother can't hurt me anymore. Everything's looking up, so...why do I still feel sad all the time?'  
  
"A dream? What of?" Ayame asked Shigure. Ayame was sitting on the railing of the bridge, swinging his legs almost carelessly on one side of Hatori while Shigure sat on the bridge at Hatori's feet. Shigure, like Hatori, was looking down at the water, though he seemed to want a closer look. When he spoke, Shigure was holding onto one of Hatori's legs and leaning out as far out over the water as he could get, staring into the black depths.  
  
"The one I love the most."  
  
Hatori and Ayame both turned to look at Shigure, surprised by the confession and Shigure's serious tone. Shigure was the type of person who threw the word love around a lot, but he sounded so serious this time and he didn't laugh when he said it. He just kept staring at his own reflection and Hatori wondered what Shigure was thinking about. What did he see when he looked at himself?  
  
Sometimes, Hatori was afraid he was losing touch with Shigure and that frightened him. Hatori didn't like the thought that his friend was growing away from him, but there were times that Hatori would look at Shigure and he could see something odd and untouchable in Shigure's eyes. It was as if Shigure was thinking about something that Hatori couldn't even imagine, something that was so vastly beyond Hatori's conception that Shigure didn't even bother to mention it to him. Shigure would smile when he noticed Hatori looking at him, a smile that was meant to reassure Hatori that all was right and nothing had changed between them.   
  
Hatori knew better.  
  
Something had changed. Shigure was less moody that he was before and less prone to depression. Before Toma's dead, almost a year ago, Shigure had been prone to crying and fits of anger, like many of the cursed Souma's. He was a child and he acted like one. Since Toma and Junko's deaths, though, Shigure had very suddenly become happier. At least, on the outside. He laughed and played pranks with Ayame at school, he never said a harsh word to anyone, but Hatori could see it. Shigure was hiding something.  
  
"'Gure, since when did you fall in love?" Ayame asked with a teasing tone, without a hint that he'd seen anything odd in Shigure's confession. He put one arm over Hatori's shoulder and turned enough that he could look at Shigure over Hatori's back. "Who is it? You never said a word to either of us, I know, because if you'd said anything to 'Tori, he'd have told me."  
  
Shigure's reflection smiled, but it was a sad smile. "It doesn't matter. Nothing will come of it."  
  
"I don't want to talk about dreams." Hatori said softly, not really thinking that Shigure would listen to him. Shigure was as stubborn as Aya, but he was also smarter, which made dealing with him harder. "I want you to go back to bed." He wanted so much to believe that all this was just Shigure's fever talking, but he couldn't quite convince himself.  
  
Hatori could see the stars in the water along with Ayame's back and his long hair blowing softly in the wind. Ayame didn't like looking at the water at night. He said he saw to much of himself in his reflection. One might not guess it, but Ayame hated mirrors. He hated looking at himself.  
  
Shigure leaned his cheek against Hatori's bare leg and chuckled weakly. "I'll go back soon, I promise, Hari." Hatori was worried, he could feel Shigure's feverishly warm skin against his leg and Shigure was still so weak. "I just wanted to look. I...I really have to make a hard choice and I wanted you two to help me decide."  
  
"Help with what?" Hatori asked.  
  
"Tell me what you dream." It wasn't exactly a question, but Shigure didn't look up at them, he seemed so fascinated with his own reflection in the water.  
  
It was an odd request, but Shigure was hard to deny. Hatori looked at Ayame, wishing that Ayame would be the first, but Ayame, too, looked uncomfortable with the question.  
  
"I dreamed," Hatori started, softly, "Of a place...filled with water." He paused, waiting to see if either of his friends would laugh at him, but neither did. The silence stretched until Hatori continued, blushing now that he realized how foolish his dream was and how stupid he must sound to be telling it. "It was...warm. Warm all around me. I liked it. There wasn't anything cold or hard; it was like floating in a giant tub of warm water. I felt so safe."  
  
Shigure was quiet for a moment, either not paying attention or thinking very deeply about what Hatori had said. "What about you, Aya?" Shigure asked. "What do you dream about?"  
  
Ayame looked away, unable to meet Shigure's eyes. "I dreamed of a person, just like you did. But I didn't like my dream."  
  
"Did they try to hurt you?" Hatori asked, worried that Ayame might have had a nightmare.  
  
"No." Ayame closed his eyes and looked down at his feet. "They didn't even see me. No matter what I did, no matter how loud I yelled or how stupid I acted, this person couldn't see me. I hated it. I did everything I could do to get his attention, but he just looked right through me. I started to think that maybe I wasn't even there. Maybe I was a ghost and maybe I had died and didn't even know it. Maybe I'd never been and was just apart of someone's imagination." Ayame's hand crept over until it landed on Hatori's hand, clasping it tightly. "I didn't like that dream. I didn't like it at all." Then he shook his head and smiled at Shigure who still stared at his reflection. "So?"  
  
"So?" Shigiure finally looked up and gave Ayame a puzzled look. "So, what?"  
  
"So, aren't you going to tell us? Who is this mysterious person you've fallen in love with? People don't just dream about each other without a good reason, you know."  
  
Shigure smiled back. "I'll tell you if you tell Hatori who you dreamed about."  
  
"Nevermind." Ayame blushed and looked away again. How strange to see him so shy. "I'm not all that curious."  
  
Shigure tightened his arm around Hatori's legs and leaned down a little further to the water "Do you know what I want?" Shigure, once again, abruptly shifted subjects as he lowered his hand to the water until his fingertips skimmed the surface of the water and sent ripples out in all directions. Shigure laughed softly. "Look, Hari! My ripples touched you!"   
  
It was true. The ripples Shigure made spread over the water and broke up the image of Hatori's face. Not only did the ripples disrupt Hatori's face, but also they kept moving outwards, away from Shigure, breaking up the images of Ayame's back, the trees, the few houses that were close enough to the water to be reflected, and even the moon. The ripples went on and on, until Shigure dipped his fingers into the water again and started more ripples. The ripples bumped into each other, reflecting off one another and Shigure seemed entranced by what he'd done.  
  
"I want to make waves." Shigure whispered. "I want to shake our world and make everyone see how stupid it all is. It's ALL stupid. Not a single thing is right in our world. It's not how it should be."  
  
"If you make waves," Ayame said. "Then you'll get noticed. "Everyone will look at you."  
  
"Isn't that what you like, Aya?" Shigure asked. "Don't you like it when everyone looks at you?"  
  
Ayame shrugged. "They like to admire my face. They like to laugh at me when they think I can't hear them. I don't mind. I like it when people smile, it's so much better than the sour faces that we usually see around here. But...you always want to change things, 'Gure. Change isn't always good."  
  
"It's not always bad, either, Aya. I have a dream that would change everything. I don't know if I can make my dream come true, but I'm going to try."   
  
Hatori was very confused. He forgot sometimes that Shigure was smarter than he was, it was easy to forget when Shigure acted like a fool so much of the time. Hatori was the one who always got the perfect marks in school and the one who never got in trouble. But there was something about Shigure, an inborn wisdom that had nothing to do with all the school's textbooks and more to do with the faery tales Shigure liked to read. It was times like this, when Shigure started talking about dreams and what might be, that Hatori became lost. "You said you had something you wanted us to help you decide." Hatori reminded Shigure, hoping to bring the conversation around to something more concrete. He didn't like all this talk of things that weren't real.  
  
Shigure seemed to feel Hatori's discomfort and he laughed affectionately. "Poor Hari. Don't worry, one day you'll know what I'm talking about. One day, you'll have dreams you want to make real. As for the decision, I need to know...will you forgive me no matter what I do?"  
  
Hatori and Ayame exchanged a puzzled look. "Shigure," Ayame said. "Maybe 'Tori's right and you should get back to bed. I'll stay the night with you, if you like."  
  
"I'm fine. I need to know, though. Can you try?" Tears suddenly sprang to Shigure's eyes, though he wiped them away quickly with the back of his hand. Shigure hated crying in front of people. "I feel like I'm crying all the time, but I can't let anyone see. It's supposed to be a secret, but I want to tell you. I suppose I can blame it on the fever, though, so it's all right for just tonight. Promise you'll forgive me, please?"  
  
Ayame was the first to answer, "Of course we will! What kind of friends would we be if we didn't?!" One of Ayame's greatest qualities was that he was fiercely loyal. Once he decided to be friends with someone, he would fight to keep that friend.  
  
Hatori, though, was more cautious. Shigure was smart, but he was also ruthless, something Ayame didn't understand. Ayame was such a good person that he really couldn't understand how anyone could be secretive or willing to do anything to get what they wanted. Shigure was both of those things. "What are you planning, Shigure?"  
  
Shigure kept his eyes on the ripples he's made which still spread out over the still river. "I want to make Akito healthy."  
  
Hatori was struck dumb. How could Shigure even think such a thing? Akito was the head of the family; he was never going to be well. According to all the family records, Akito would follow in the footsteps of all the other heads of the family and would slowly get weaker and weaker until he died. Akito would probably lose his mind and then the real pain would start again. Hatori shuddered, thinking about how his father had been...and Akito was going to be just like his father. To make Akito healthy and strong, it was unthinkable. Impossible.  
  
"I want to take Akito to the park and teach him to fly a kite." Shigure went on with passion. "I want him to go to school with us and I want him to go to karate lessons with Kazuma and us. Ren doesn't let him do anything, she just keeps him locked up in that house and hardly even lets him go into the garden! At least Junko used to take Akito out for walks around the estate. She took him to the park a couple of times. Don't you see?" He looked up with his cheeks wet with tears and burning eyes. "Our family is how Akito is. Akito is sick, so our family is sick. If Akito is well, then our family will be healthy again. I...I have to find a way to make Akito healthy." Shigure hugged himself tighter to Hatori's leg. "I'm sure of it. I just know that's the answer to our problems."  
  
"I understand." Hatori answered.  
  
Shigure's expression showed his disbelief and Hatori was slightly hurt by it. "I don't think you do. Not really."  
  
"If I could have made my father healthy, I would have." Hatori replied, his voice colder than he'd meant it to be. "You think I wouldn't have given anything for him to love me? I know I was nothing but some vague attempt for him to lead a normal life! In the end, he didn't care about anything except holding onto his power for as long as he could. He cared about me about as much as he did for his shoes." Hatori felt his own eyes start to burn with tears he hadn't wanted to shed. He hadn't even cried at his father's death and had thought he was over it. Thinking about it now, though...it hurt so much. "If he kicked his old shoes around a few times, who cares?! If he had just one, just ONE moment to look at me like I was a real person instead of something he owned, I'd have cried for joy!" Hatori looked down at Shigure and glared. "You're not the only one who's suffered because of the family, why should you be the only one who dreams of curing our curse?"  
  
"Curing the curse?" Shigure blinked at him, almost stupidly.  
  
"Of course. How else could we make Akito healthy?" Hatori crossed his arms and leaned down far enough that he could set his chin on his folded arms. He was angry, at himself more than anything. He wanted to cry and he didn't seem to be able to stop himself. 'I feel like such an idiot, I'm such a baby! Crying in front of everyone because of a man who didn't like me, let alone love me, who died years ago. Stupid, stupid, stupid!'  
  
Shigure got that faraway look in his eyes again, the one that showed he was thinking of other things he wasn't willing to talk about. "I'm not sure we are cursed."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Ayame demanded. "Of course we're cursed! Do you think it's a blessing that we turn into animals?! My mother's pregnant and you know what she said? She's sure my new sibling's going to be the next rat!" the distress in Ayame's voice made Hatori look at him out of the corner of his eye. "Do you know what that means? Akito's been making such a fuss over who's going to be the next rat and I know, I just know, mother's going to milk this one to death! She said she's going to use my little brother or sister to get a higher position in the family!" Ayame was nearly livid, he was so angry and he kept his voice a vehement hiss. "Was that all I was for? My father left us when I was little, so who's she been sleeping with? She got herself knocked up just for a chance to have a better child than me! Was the only reason I was born because she wanted a child to elevate her in Akira's eyes?" By now, Ayame was crying, too, and Hatori felt his heart go out to his gentle friend. Ayame slumped, wilting like a flower without water. "If the curse were cured, my little brother or sister wouldn't have to know they were only born to give mother a better life! She's hoping for a new house and servants, and...and..." Ayame couldn't go on any longer and he dissolved into helpless tears.  
  
Hatori found himself angry at Shigure, something that didn't happen often. He didn't like it when Ayame got upset. "It's okay." Hatori knelt down and put his arms around Ayame. Being a very tactile person, Ayame got the most comfort by being touched and hugged, so he was the only person Hatori would willingly get close to. "Don't worry, we'll just have to take care of whoever your new brother and sister is." Hatori, like most of the Souma family, had known for a very long time that Ayame's mother was pregnant again, but little mention was made of the fact that she had no husband and presented no father when she'd announced the news to Akito.   
  
Ayame sniffled and said, bitterly, "I hope my new brother or sister is the next cat! It has to be easier than being the rat."  
  
Shigure had been silent all this time and Hatori looked at him now, hoping to put an end to the painful discussion. "Naturally, we'd all love to cure the curse, but we aren't going to be able to. We're just not strong enough."  
  
"If you could, would you?" Shigure asked, still looking at his reflection. "Do we all share the same dream of making our family healthy and happy?" Shigure didn't wait for an answer, the tears of his friends seemed enough for him. "I'm glad you said that. You can't imagine how glad I am. Heh. Don't listen to me. I'm babbling again, I guess."  
  
Hatori wasn't entirely willing to believe that. Shigure had been acting so secretive lately and he rarely babbled about anything unless he was trying to hide something. It sounded as if Shigure knew something about the curse, but what and why wouldn't he tell them?  
  
Shigure went on almost without stopping. "Do you know why I like looking at myself in the water? Because I can see me. I can see the real me. I'm not sure I like what I see, but at least I can see the truth. I've made up my mind." Shigure smiled up at them with tears still on his face. "Will you both forgive me for what I'm going to do?"  
  
"What are you going to do?" Ayame asked, his voice soft and subdued with worry.  
  
"I'm going to make our family strong." Shigure said with a gentle smile. "One child at a time, I'm going to make us stronger and better. I don't care who I hurt. But...I'm afraid...I'm afraid I won't be able to forgive myself. I think I'm going to do something awful."  
  
"Shigure..." Hatori started.  
  
"So," Shigure acted as if he hadn't heard Hatori. "I need you two to forgive me, then I won't feel so badly." Shigure interrupted. "Don't worry, Hari. I've given myself all the warnings I know you'd have given me. I've thought about all the dangers of what I'm going to do. I'm going to do it anyway. I'm going to do anything I can to heal us and make us a real family...the way we're meant to be."  
  
"Ayame-kun! Ayame-kun!"  
  
All three of them looked up at the shout and they saw someone, a distant cousin, waving at them from across the little river. Ayame wiped his tears carefully away before he stood up and answered in his normal, light, "Yes?"  
  
"Come quickly! You're mother's gone into labor. Akito says for you to come, too, Hatori-kun, Shigure-kun!"  
  
"Shigure can't come!" Hatori argued. "He's sick." He hadn't forgotten Shigure's flu and wanted Shigure safely in bed and asleep before it got worse.  
  
"Akito says all of you!" The man told him sharply and the message was quite clear. No one disobeyed the head of the family.  
  
"It's all right." Shigure sighed, tiredly and started to pull himself up slowly. "I'll be okay." When they saw what trouble he was having, Hatori and Ayame went to help him to his feet. "Just need to sleep in tomorrow. I guess I'll be missing school again." He didn't sound very unhappy about that, Hatori noticed.  
  
Akito-  
  
  
  
Ren combed his hair carefully as Akito sat very still, his legs tucked under him and his eyes looking out the window. He could see Shigure sitting on the bridge with Hatori and Ayame and wished he could be with them. "Are you excited about the new babies, Akito-sama?" Ren drew Akito's attention away from the three older boys, putting a finger under his chin and pulling his face back to looking at her stern face, which looked as if her skin was pulled to tight.  
  
Akito wished she wouldn't call him that, he hated being called 'sama'. "Yes." He answered shortly. Akito shifted his eyes to look back at the boys outside, lit only by the moonlight, and didn't move his head again. Ren hadn't been taking care of him for very long, but she sure was different than Junko. Akito remembered the sweet time he'd been with Junko, her soft hands and laughing violet eyes. Ren's hands were hard and her eyes were cold.  
  
Ren moved, kneeling behind him and running the fine toothed comb through his thin hair. Akito didn't like having his hair combed and he didn't like Ren. He'd told her that the comb felt to sharp and hurt his head, but she never listened to him. He wished more than anything that he could call Shigure back to bite her again. "I want to get my hair cut." He announced, blowing a strand of grey hair out of his eyes. "Shigure and Hatori have short hair, I want mine like theirs."  
  
Ren laughed. "Don't be silly, Akito-sama. Long hair is much more becoming. It covers your scrawny neck, after all." Akito's hair was, in fact, longer than Ayame's, falling right down his back. It irritated Akito to no end, always getting in his eyes and, if nothing else, it would mean that Ren would stop combing his hair.  
  
"I don't like it, I look like a girl."  
  
"You don't really get much of a say in it, Akito-sama. Maybe when you get older, you can get your hair cut, but right now I decide what happens to you and I've decided you'll have long hair." She leaned in closely and Akito wanted to run away. She had a dreadful voice and he could feel her breath on his cheek when she leaned in close to him. "I like your pretty looks."  
  
"I'll ask Hatori to do it for me." Akito said stubbornly. "He'll cut my hair if I ask him."  
  
This time, Ren gave him an astonished look and threw her head back, roaring with laughter. "Akito-sama, you can't be serious!"  
  
"Why not?" Akito turned to glare at her. "Hatori likes me, he'll do it if I ask him to."  
  
"Likes you? Akito-sama, Hatori can't possibly like you. He's an animal. Animals don't like their masters. It isn't as if he's a real person, after all. Now, hold up your arms, so I can put your kimono on."  
  
Akito didn't move for a long time. Hatori wasn't an animal, Akito was sure of that. He might turn into one for a while, but he was still a person. Akito's eyes narrowed at Ren as she stood and went to one of his closets and pulled out one of his kimono's.   
  
"Shigure said I'm old enough to dress myself." Akito said, remembering when Shigure had happened to walk in when Ren was dressing Akito and had laughed. Shigure said that it was silly for someone Akito's age to be 'dressed' like he was a baby.  
  
"Shigure isn't a real person, either. Haven't you realized that by now? Shigure is just an animal. He doesn't care about you, not like I do." Ren came to stand before Akito and repeated the order, "Arms up." She pulled the robe over his shoulders and started to tie all the strings. "Shigure only cares if you are alive and healthy, the same as the rest of them. Haven't you realized it, yet?" She came to face him and looked him directly in the face. "You are the only reason they can stay alive, you are their god. They don't care if you're happy or sad or if you even like them. If you die, then they'll all die. You can't think of them as real people, they'll only hurt you in the end. I'm the only person you can trust, I'll always tell you exactly how I feel because you don't hold any power over me, like you do with the Junikyu. They have to lie to you, to keep you happy." Ren took a step away from him and examined him carefully before she smiled. "There, I think we're ready to go see the new babies. Stay here while I get my coat."  
  
Akito frowned, still confused by everything she'd said, but he stayed sitting. He was sure she was lying, but Junko had been the one who told him he would always be sick because all of the Junikyu depended on him and Junko had never lied to him. What if Ren was right and everyone just wanted to keep him alive so they'd live? Ren, like all of the Souma's, called him Akito-sama, it was his title, but he felt sure she didn't mean it. Ren didn't treat him like Shigure and the rest of the Junikyu did.  
  
"We? You can't come, Ren. This is just for just me and the Junikyu (twelve signs)." He was sure of that, at least. Yahiko had explained that to him very carefully.  
  
"We'll see about that." She took his hand and pulled him to his feet.   
  
"Not so hard!" Akito protested, wincing in pain. "You're hurting me!" And it was true. Akito was sickly enough that even slight bumps would cause terrible bruises and, he was told, he had to be careful of his weak bones would break easily.   
  
Ren let out a gust of breath, showing how aggravated she was. "Don't you start ordering me about, Akito-sama!" She looked at him over her shoulder as she pulled him to the door of the house, tugging his arm much harder than necessary. "I'm not one of your little pets, I'm not afraid that you'll die." Ren stopped suddenly and bent down low to look him in the eye. "Just you remember, Akito-sama, if you die, all your little animals will die, too. I won't. I could care less if you live or die."  
  
Akito was furious and his body tensed, he wanted to fight to hurt her...to do anything.  
  
Ren smirked at him. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you. Put one hand on me again and I'll wring your scrawny neck, brat! Don't you think I've forgotten what you made those freaks do to me when Junko died! Shigure bit me! I won't stand for that, I'll kill you and then your pets will die, too!"  
  
'She...she'll kill me? Kill Shigure?' Akito forced his body to relax and he swallowed hard, trying to calm himself. 'Junko said I have to live for the family, I can't let anyone hurt my family.'  
  
With a terrible wrench, Ren pulled Akito again and this time he went without comment, but knowing his shoulder and wrist would be bruised in the morning. "And if you even think of mentioning this to your little guard dog, I'll make you regret it. You belong to me, brat." There was a note of self-satisfaction in her voice. "Just like those animals belong to you and think you're some kind of god, you belong to me. It's the law, you know. If I don't have custody of you, the law will come along and take you away. They'll lock you up in a hospital and you'll never be allowed to leave again."  
  
Ren's hand felt so cold, not at all like Shigure's. But...what if she was right? What if none of them really liked him and they only took care of him because he was...Akito struggled with what Ren had said. She said he was their god. He didn't feel like a god, he felt weak and helpless without the Junikyu around. No. No, she had to be wrong. Shigure really liked him, he'd brought Akito the bird. But...what if...  
  
"Now." Ren's whole attitude change the moment she opened the front door and a sweet smile flashed onto her face. "You won't mention our little conversation to the rest of the family, now will you?"  
  
"No, Ren." Akito didn't think he had much of a choice, really. He couldn't make her angry. She was a grown-up and she'd hurt everyone...no...it was best to do what Ren said, for now.  
  
They walked though the darkness of the Souma estate to where the births would take place, a small house in the center of the estate. Akito hated walking at night, there were to many things to trip over, and he had to trust Ren not to let him fall. Frankly, Akito would have rather had Hatori with him, Hatori never let him fall. 'But isn't that what Ren said? She said they only care that I'm healthy and alive, not about me.' Akito wished he could understand what was going on, but he got so confused sometimes.  
  
Akito didn't think to ask Ren any questions, he'd been looking forward to this night for a long time and not just because his beloved rat was going to be reborn. No matter what she said, Akito knew that the Junikyu wouldn't let her stay. They were a secretive group of people and he had the strange feeling that they would kill Ren before they allowed her into their group. Yes, tonight he'd finally get away from her for the first time since Junko had died.  
  
In all honesty, Ren frightened Akito. Of everyone Akito had met in his sheltered life, confined within the walls of the Souma estate, Akito had never been afraid of anyone before he'd met Ren.  
  
Shigure-  
  
Shigure felt dreadful. Really, he hadn't felt this bad since...well, since never. Being sick was bad enough, but being sick and not being allowed to go to bed was just torment. Hatori was really very sweet, trying to get Shigure back to bed, but they both knew it was impossible. Tradition couldn't be broken, not for something like this. Just as for funerals, births required that everyone be together.   
  
So, supported by his friends on either side, Shigure sat on the steps that led up to the infirmary with his head on Ayame's shoulder. It had been seven months after the deaths of Toma and Junko, and now the only two pregnant women in the Souma family had gone into premature labor. It was the timing that made everyone believe that these two children would be curses as everyone knew that those cursed by the Zodiac were always born two months premature, though no one knew why. Now every member of the Zodiac family waited silently for their new family members outside the small house that had only ever been used as an infirmary for the Zodiac members of the family. The tension in the air was almost tangible and not one of the adults spoke. He was trying not to fall asleep, but it was such a nice, warm night and there was a cool breeze. Shigure couldn't help it when he drifted off to sleep.  
  
He dreamed again of that person...the one he loved more than anyone else. It was the same dream as before. They sat together in a garden, just looking at the flowers. Neither of them spoke, but Shigure felt so happy just being with him.  
  
The night passed without change and when dawn came, all of the cursed were still outside the infirmary, waiting. The littlest children, Rin, Kagura, and Kureno. Shigure had taken another short nap on Ayame's shoulder, but he woke in time to see the sun rising.  
  
That day turned out to be bright and sunny, but one wouldn't guess it from the dismal cloud that hung over the gathered family. They all knew to well that they were about to welcome two more innocent children into their cursed lives. No one had been invited to this waiting, except for the 11 people who were directly affected. The rest of the family had been excluded, as always, there was no need to attract any more attention to this than was necessary. Especially since it was very likely one of the newborns would be the cat.  
  
Outside the steps of the infirmary, Shigure sat with his arms wrapped over his knees and he stared out at his family. He was so tired and he still felt terribly sick, but he knew he couldn't leave. Other thoughts than his health plagued Shigure though, as he watched his family.   
  
'I wish I could tell them what I know.' Shigure he wasn't sure what to do with all that knowledge the book had given him now that he had it. For months it had been eating away at him and Shigure had come so close to telling Hatori and Ayame, but he hadn't. Part of him desperately wanted to tell someone older than himself. He was sure that one of the older Zodiac members would be smarter than he was and would be able make some use out of the horrible information. 'But...I guess I can see why no one else is supposed to know. It would be dangerous. What if someone in the family went looking for that guy and he found us again? We'd lose our freedom, we'd be taken away from our home. I know our lives aren't especially enviable, but I'd rather be unhappy here than locked away in some Kami's house and drugged.' Shigure shivered at that thought. Freedom was everything.  
  
Akito appeared just then, walking slowly towards them from his house with something clutched in his left hand and his right hand being held by his guardian. Akito's guardian was one of their aunts, the same woman who'd tried to assert her control over Akito back when Junko had died. Shigure growled softly when he saw her. He wasn't sure why, but he really didn't like her. Maybe it was the way Akito always seemed so ill at ease around her.  
  
Thankfully, Yahiko stopped her as she and Akito drew closer to the infirmary. "You aren't permitted to come closer, Ren-san. This is a time for the cursed only." Yahiko reached for Akito's hand. "Our master is allowed to be with us, but you aren't one of us. You're not welcome." Apparently, Shigure wasn't the only one to disliked Ren and Yahiko wasn't one who wasted words.  
  
Ren wasn't about to just hand over Akito, though, and kept a firm grip on his hand. "Akito-sama isn't well tonight, I don't want to leave him alone. I will stay with him or he won't stay."  
  
Everyone's eyes were on Ren and no one was happy about her order. This wasn't the first time that Ren had tried to overstep her authority as Akito's guardian and interfere with the affairs of the cursed. Many of the older Junikyu were starting to speak against her, ready to have Hatori erase her memory and replace her with someone less...power hungry as Akito's guardian. The silence was suddenly filled with muttered complaints and dark looks, neither of which seemed to bother the very smug looking Ren who still held onto Akito as if he were a ticket to get anything she wanted.  
  
Akito said nothing and kept his eyes on his feet, which was strange in itself.   
  
Yahiko snorted indelicately. "Alone? Did you forget so soon who we are? What we are? Akito is never safer than when he's with us." This time, Yahiko grabbed Ren's arm and pulled her in close to him. "Don't fight me, Ren." He warned, coldly. "Do you really want to make me angry? You're place in our family is tenuous, at the moment. We don't need you." He kept her there, staring into her eyes without blinking, until Ren let go of Akito's hand. "Good choice." Yahiko complimented mildly as he took Akito's hand and started to lead him away.  
  
Shigure watched Ren for a moment, taking note distantly of her furious eyes staring at Yahiko's back. "I'll speak with you later, Yahiko."  
  
"Whatever." Yahiko didn't even bother to look at Ren. "Just go back to your house. The estate has a curfew tonight and you're breaking it. Don't leave your house until daybreak."  
  
She glared, but didn't say another word as she left.  
  
Akito hadn't gotten much better in the past few months, though now Shigure knew why Akito was sick, thanks to the book. How sad...the reason for Akito's illness was that man's fault, too. What was his name again? D. They'd called him Count D. It was his fault that that the whole family was sick. Maybe they weren't physically sick, like Akito, but even Shigure could see there was something wrong with his family, just like Junko had said.   
  
Even now, everyone always seemed unhappy. Some of them were nervously pacing and others holding onto each other right now, it was a stressful time. When both women went into labor two months premature, everyone had known that the children would be cursed and not a one of them would wish their curse on any other living creature. It was just a question of who would be the rat and who would be the cat.   
  
Akito left Yahiko's side and pulled himself up the stairs to Shigure. Shigure moved slightly to the right, making way for little Akito to join them, but putting himself between Akito and his two cousins. Akito said nothing, but just sat there. He was the head of the family, so he was welcomed everywhere, just as Yahiko had said. "I don't think Ren's happy." Shigure whispered.  
  
"Ren is...rarely happy when I go out of the house." Akito answered in a strangely subdued voice. Akito started to cough, putting his small hand over his mouth, but his eyes were wide open. Now that Ren was gone, Akito seemed much happier. He was clearly excited as he had been since the moment he'd heard about his pregnant family. Most everyone thought it was the simple excitement most children had to seeing someone born for the first time, but Shigure knew it was far worse. No matter how much he'd tried to tell Akito that the new rat wouldn't be Junko, Akito refused to believe him.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Shigure asked, looking at Akito through his bangs that partially covered his eyes.  
  
Akito just smiled back. "I get my Junko back tonight, Shigure. So I'm happy."  
  
Shigure sighed and decided it was useless to contradict Akito anymore. He just wouldn't believe. Shigure suddenly found something in his lap and he looked at Akito who'd tossed it there. The bracelet. Toma's bracelet.   
  
"You put it on the cat." Akito ordered, not looking at Shigure. "I don't want to touch it. I don't even want to look at it."  
  
Shigure picked up the bracelet and held it carefully in the palm of one hand, but looked at Akito out of the corner of his eye. 'He's afraid. Seeing Toma as a monster...it really scared him.' Shigure foresaw problems for the next cat of the Souma family, but he said nothing. It wouldn't make any difference if he did or not. No one could know the truth about the cat.  
  
Ayame and Hatori were close to each other, as they always were, both sitting next to Shigure on the steps leading into the infirmary. Ayame was, perhaps, the most nervous person at this small gathering and he had the most reason. After all, one of the two women giving birth was his mother.  
  
"Will it be much longer, Hari?" Ayame asked in a whispered voice. Hatori sat between Ayame's knees with his hands neatly folded on his lap even as Ayame played with Hatori's short hair. "They've been in there for hours. Do you think something's wrong?"  
  
Hatori petted Ayame's knee. "Relax. These things take time. Or so I've read." But even Hatori's voice was a little tenser than usual, which was to be expected. He was going to have to erase not one, but the memories of two people, probably very agitated people. It wasn't something he enjoyed doing.  
  
There were no doctors allowed within the confidence of the Zodiac members of the Souma family. They couldn't be trusted. There was to much of a risk that someone like a doctor, most of whom were either ambitious or greedy. If a doctor were to learn of the Zodiac curse then the Souma family would be in great danger. The threat of being locked in a cage to be studied by some team of white-coated scientists was enough to make the Souma family keep its healthy problems to itself.   
  
Today the two women giving birth without the benefits of a hospital were in luck. They were allowed a doctor and a nurse to help them and all because of Hatori. Today, Hatori would erase the memories of the doctor and the two nurses who'd been paid to make this very special house call.  
  
No doctor's was a dangerous tradition, one that had cost many previous Zodiac family members their lives. Simple illness had been neglected because the dragon had been, for one reason or another, unable to serve his function and erase the memories of a doctor. Those simple illnesses had developed into something far worse and taken the lives of many people. Injuries that never received proper treatment were left to fester and those who survived the injuries were left to carry terrible scars for the rest of their lives. Like Hatori.  
  
Shigure knew that was one big reason why Hatori had never joined the family's dojo, like Shigure and Ayame had. While Hatori was perhaps the most gentle person alive and wouldn't want to fight even if his life were in danger, the fact was that he couldn't fight. Hatori's left leg was stiff, and he walked with a barely noticeable limp. From a beating his father, Akira, had once given him, Hatori's back and arms were laced with terrible scars. None of this was life threatening, now, but at the time, Hatori had suffered from long lasting infections and he'd almost died because of blood loss. Now, the old wounds made his body to stiff for the moves needed in martial arts that Ayame and Shigure enjoyed so much. Hatori generally left fighting to Ayame who was better suited for it. He also seemed to have a natural talent for it.  
  
In fact, Ayame was perhaps the best fighter in the Souma family and woe to anyone who underestimated him. It was Kazuma who'd talked Ayame into martial arts, in the first place. He'd guessed long ago that with Ayame's personality and sense of style, Ayame would need a way of defending himself when he got into high school.   
  
Shigure liked fighting, but he just wasn't as good at it as Ayame was. Actually, Shigure had only started the martial arts lessons after he'd read the book Toma had given him. That was when he'd learned what his position in the family was supposed to be and Shigure knew he'd need to know how to fight. He was supposed to protect the family.  
  
  
  
A scream from inside the little house made everyone look at the still closed doors and made Ayame jump, frightened. "That was mom." Ayame whispered to himself. His fingers still played absently in Hatori's hair, as if he needed something, anything, to do. The scream was short lived though, so they all knew the cat hadn't been born yet.  
  
"It hurts to have a baby." Hatori reassured Ayame. "I'll bet your mom screamed just as loud when you were born. It'll be over soon."  
  
Shigure watched as Ayame put his head down on top of Hatori's and his arms around Hatori's neck, drawing the two of them close together. "I hope you're right." Ayame whispered back.  
  
They sat there for such a long time with no one saying a word and Shigure sure that everyone was trying to imagine how these two soon to be born infants would change their lives.  
  
Shigure felt so strange, like his head was filled with air and about to float away. He giggled. "Airhead." He whispered to himself. Shigure waited as silently as everyone else, but his fingers ran up and down the beaded bracelet in his hand. He wondered if the next cat would be like Toma, kind and gentle, or if it would be like the original cat and try to kill anyone.  
  
~It's not my fault.~  
  
Shigure looked up and saw a strange woman standing in front of him. She wasn't a member of the Zodiac, he was sure of that because he'd never seen her before, so she shouldn't be there. She looked terribly angry.  
  
~You'd be angry, too, if you were in my place.~ The woman said, running a hand through her orange curls. ~Everyone always blames me. How was I supposed to know it wasn't Nezumi's fault? You have no idea what the Count did to me all those years, all the things he told me.~  
  
"I didn't read it in the book."  
  
She laughed coarsely. ~I never told anyone. I don't need pity or forgiveness. I did what I had to do. Not my fault I'm trapped in this body. Not my fault I'm a monster.~  
  
"Inu didn't think you were a monster. Neither did Nezumi."  
  
~What did they know? They weren't trapped inside this body.~   
  
Hatori-  
  
Hatori really started to worry about Shigure when Shigure started to talk to himself. In fact, in the dead silence outside the infirmary, everyone heard Shigure and was now staring at him. Shigure spoke in whispered mumbles, his eyes half-closed, but he definitely acted as if he were talking to someone. 'Hallucinations.' Hatori thought, worriedly. 'This is bad. I should have tried harder to get him to stay at home.' He moved out of Ayame's arms and put a hand on Shigure's arm. "Shigure? Why don't you come lay down?" He tried to pull Shigure up to the top of the porch where he could lay down and at least be more comfortable, but Shigure resisted.   
  
"Just a minute, Hari. I need to talk to her." Shigure smiled lazily at Hatori and gestured to a spot in front of him where there was no one. "I have to ask her something important."  
  
Akito frowned at Shigure. "Her? What are you talking about?"  
  
"Can you wait till after you've slept a bit?" Hatori suggested hopefully. "I'm worried about your fever."  
  
Shigure laughed. "You worry to much, Hari." Then he looked at the spot where no one was standing, where he thought he saw someone. "Should I tell them? Should I warn them about him? I don't want to be locked up like you were." He waited a moment. "Okay. I get it. It's going to be hard, but I'll do it."  
  
Hatori gave Shigure's arm another tug and this time Shigure let himself be pulled up to the top of the porch. He didn't quite stand up, but Hatori didn't mind that. In the state Shigure was in, Hatori was afraid Shigure would fall and hurt himself if he tried to stand. So he pushed Shigure into laying down and made him as comfortable as possible. "Try to go to sleep, Shigure."  
  
Still focused on the spot where he thought he saw someone, Shigure didn't answer Hatori. "I want to take care of him, but I don't think he'll let me." Pause. "Yeah, I don't think I'll say anything. It wouldn't do any good," Yawn. "Anyway." Shigure's eyes finally closed and he fell instantly into a deep sleep. Ayame come up beside Hatori and took off the long green outer coat he habitually wore before using it to cover Shigure, like a blanket.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" Akito asked. He was looking carefully at Shigure.  
  
"He's sick." Hatori answered. "He'll get better soon..."  
  
Suddenly, the door of the infirmary slammed open and a worried-looking doctor looked out at them. "Call an ambulance!" He shouted to no one in particular. "The first baby needs to go to the hospital!" Then he disappeared inside the small building again, his white coat flapping as he rushed about.  
  
Everyone's eyes went to Akito, waiting for a signal as to what they should do. Akito stood up and walked calmly into the infirmary, but he said nothing about an ambulance.   
  
Hatori knew that this was where Shigure probably would have taken matters into his own hands and called for an ambulance himself, but Shigure was in no shape to do anything at the moment. The doctor's shouting hadn't even roused Shigure from his fevered sleep. 'It's up to me then.' Hatori thought, worriedly. He was the first to follow Akito into the infirmary, but he didn't go to the rooms where the two expectant mothers were. Instead, Hatori went down the hall to the only phone in the building and called for the ambulance.  
  
Ayame-  
  
  
  
"Come on, Ayame, this could be your new brother or sister." One of the adults took Ayame's hand and pulled him into the little house with a smile. Ayame wasn't sure he wanted to go in, this new child was the one his mother was going to use for advancement within the family and this was the child their mother would be giving all her attention to.   
  
The room the came to had Ayame's mother laying in bed and the doctor trying to argue with Akito who wanted to see the little baby. "I want to see him!" Akito insisted.  
  
"You really must go, young man!" The doctor told Akito firmly, mistaken in the belief that he could get Akito to do anything he didn't want to do. "I need to concentrate on this baby." On a small table, just beside the bed where Ayame's mother was laying, now exhausted and covered in sweat, the doctor had laid a baby that was no bigger than Ayame's arm from wrist to elbow. It was so tiny it looked like a doll. Ayame realized after a moment, that the baby was a strange bluish color and wasn't moving. He felt guilty when he thought to himself, 'Maybe it'll die. Then it won't have to be cursed, right?' But death was better than being cursed, wasn't it?  
  
"What's wrong with it?" Ayame asked as he went to his mother's side. The two of them had been having problems lately, but Ayame still adored his mother and was so grateful that she seemed to have made it out of all this perfectly well. As was a nervous habit of his, Ayame started to lick his lips. It was kind of like the habit Shigure had of whining when he was afraid, just something uncontrollable. He tasted something in the air. It was unpleasant and tasted like...like metal, almost. Ayame took a couple more licks of the air, running his tongue over his lips, trying to identify what he was tasting, but he just couldn't figure it out.  
  
"His lungs aren't working quite right." The doctor explained in a distracted manner. "Premature babies often have this trouble, we'll have to get him on a ventilator right away. I don't know why you folks refused to bring these ladies to a hospital, especially since it's so early. You can't be so primitive in these kind of situations, the hospital is the best place for them. These children could both die."  
  
Akito, though, said, "I only care about one of them. The other doesn't matter, it can die. Let his mother hold him." He was getting impatient and angry with the doctor, even Ayame could tell and he bit his cheek, hoping this wouldn't come to violence. Akito seemed to be resorting to violence more and more often, lately.  
  
"Not right now." The doctor said, not taking Akito's orders seriously enough. "Really, child, you must get out from underfoot!"  
  
Akito's eyes narrowed dangerously and he spoke louder. "Yahiko!"  
  
Yahiko stepped forward. "I don't think you heard him properly." Yahiko stepped up beside the doctor and pushed him roughly aside. "Let his mother hold him." Then he looked at Ayame's mother, who was growing paler by the moment, and asked. "What have you named your son, cousin?" Very gently and carefully, Yahiko picked up the tiny baby.  
  
"Yuki." She answered in a sleepy voice. "His name's Yuki. Let me hold him, I have to know. I can't stand the waiting any longer." She held out her arms weakly for the tiny baby, smiling at Ayame. "Come here, Ayame-chan, meet your brother."  
  
Ayame stepped nervously closer and looked down at the baby as it still rested in Yahiko's arms. He didn't look terribly impressed with what he saw, but he still smiled when he looked back at his mother. "He's very...small."  
  
"So were you, little one, but you grew." The moment the baby was placed in her arms, there was a small explosion and a great puff of smoke. When it cleared, Ayame's mother was holding an infant rat, no bigger than a marble in the palm of one hand. It was pink and hairless, rolled up in a little ball. She laughed and tears of happiness ran down her face. She'd finally gotten her wish.  
  
One look at Akito showed that he, too, was pleased with the result. "I want to hold him." Akito said with something like greed in his voice.  
  
The new mother balked for a moment, but handed the baby rat to Akito, who held it in the palm of his hand. "You've come back to me." Akito whispered softly as he stroked the baby rats back with one finger. "I've been waiting for you. I'm so glad you're back. Don't worry, you'll always be my favorite." He handed the baby rat to Yahiko and announced in a louder voice, "All right," Akito said finally, smiling at the newborn. "He can go to the hospital, but Yahiko and Hatori must stay with him all the time. Make sure no women touch him. Understand?"  
  
Yahiko nodded mutely.   
  
Hatori entered the room silently and Ayame saw him walk up behind the stupefied doctor who'd watched the cursed transformation with his mouth hanging open. It was obviously to much for him. "How...how did that...I don't..."  
  
"I can explain." Hatori said loudly, causing the doctor to turn around. As most adults tend to do when talking to children, the doctor bent down so he was eye level with Hatori. Of course this worked perfectly for Hatori who quickly slipped his hand over the doctor's eyes and erased the memories of the transformation. The doctor slumped limply to the floor, unconscious.  
  
A scream reminded everyone that there was another birth in progress and if Yuki was the rat that meant that this next one would be...  
  
Hatori-  
  
"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!" The scream ripped through the air and Hatori was the first one to throw open the door that led to the next room. The first thing Hatori saw was the nurse, she's fallen to the floor and was staring at something in horror as her mouth was opened wide and no sound coming out. Seeing the other people, the woman raised a shaking hand and Hatori followed with his eyes until he saw what she was so afraid of, laying helplessly on the floor.  
  
No wonder there had been screaming. Hatori remembered what Toma had turned into the night Akito had taken off the magic bracelet, the monstrous insect thing and he remembered the dreadful smell. If anything, this was worse. It was moving and squalling with a terrible sounding wail that could never be human. Still covered in the shining liquid and blood of birth, smelled even worse than Toma had, dead.  
  
Hatori had been afraid of Toma, after all, if Toma could turn into something like that, then what if the rest of them also could turn into monsters? His fear of Toma had been nothing compared to the disgust Hatori felt at seeing this new baby. It was revolting, truly horrible.  
  
"M-m-monster." The nurse gibbered, her eyes a little to wide for her to be thinking clearly. "It's a monster."  
  
"No." Hatori ignored the growing headache he was getting from erasing the doctor's memory and he went to the nurse who couldn't take her eyes off the infant cat. "It's just a nightmare." He slid his hand over her eyes and took away the memories. The nurse slumped to the floor and Hatori knew she'd be perfectly fine when she woke up in a few hours.  
  
Then Hatori turned his attention to the new mother, his cousin Hiroko. She looked confused and frightened. "Hatori-chan, what's going on? They started screaming. Where's my baby? What's happening?"  
  
Hatori realized that the baby must have been born and the nurse had dropped it without its mother being able to see it even for a moment. Hiroko was to weak to get up and look for herself. Hatori looked over his shoulder and found the rest of his family still in the other room with Ayame and Akito, all trying to get a good look at the new rat and talking and chattering about something. No help from them.   
  
Gathering his courage, and knowing what had to be done, Hatori went to the alien-like monster and picked it up, holding his breath so he wouldn't have to breathe the foul scent of the cat. He was surprised at how big and heavy it was compared to little Yuki. "Here it is, Hiroko. I'm not sure if it's a girl or boy, yet."  
  
Her expression was blank for a long time as she stared at what she'd given birth to. It howled hungrily and Hatori saw his aunt's fingers tighten on her bedclothes. "My...my..."  
  
"Yes. It's your baby."  
  
"No." She shook her head and tears sprang to her eyes. "No, it can't be. This is...this is wrong."  
  
Hatori felt sick. How horrible. Not only had she given birth to the cat, but no one had warned her of what might have happened. That was just cruel. "It's your baby, Hiroko." Hatori insisted, bringing it closer so she could get a closer look, even though she shied away from it. "It won't hurt you, it's just a baby. It's a cat."  
  
"Cat?" She echoed. Her breath was quick and sharp, as if she couldn't get enough to breathe. "No, that's not a cat. It's not."  
  
Hatori tried to give the cat to its mother, but she was very reluctant in taking it. Eventually, Hiroko was convinced to stretch out her arms and take the baby. Hatori was ready to snatch it away at a moment's notice. She looked as if she's start screaming hysterically at any moment. Her fear wasn't hard to understand, even if she hadn't given birth to the cat. Hiroko was only fifteen, after all.  
  
"You forgot the bracelet." Shigure staggered into the room, holding the black and white bracelet tightly in one hand. Still pale and shaking with fever, Shigure smiled at his cousin. "He has to wear his bracelet, cousin." Shigure barely managed to slide the bracelet onto the baby's arm before Akito walked in and saw the cat in its true form. The baby cat turned almost instantly into a human baby with orange strands on hair on his head.  
  
"My baby." Hiroko held the now human baby a little closer to her breast and the wild look in her eyes calmed a bit. "Yes, he's my baby. My baby." It was as if she were trying to convince herself. "I love him. I do. His name's Kyou, I've always liked that name."  
  
"'TORI!" Ayame screamed at the top of his lungs, bringing Hatori storming out of one room and into the room filled with people. Everyone backed away so Hatori could get a better look at Ayame who was on his knees at his mother's bedside, tears flowing freely down his face. "'Tori! Help me!" He screamed.  
  
At once, Hatori saw what was wrong. Yahiko pulled the covers of her bed over the face of Ayame's mother. She was dead. Ayame cried like his heart had broken, wailing with his head thrown back and tears running down his face. Ayame was a small person and he looked smaller the way he was all hunched up on himself and rocking back and forth. Hatori went to Ayame and hugged him tightly, but it didn't seem to help much. Ayame clutched Hatori's shirt and wept onto his shoulder. "I hate him." Ayame whispered. "He killed my mom."  
  
"That's not true." Hatori said quietly. "Yuki couldn't have done anything different, he's a baby."  
  
"He killed my mom."  
  
In the distance, Hatori heard ambulance sirens. "We have to take Yuki to the hospital." Hatori whispered. "We don't want him to die, too, right?" But Ayame didn't answer right away. "Aya? Aya, I have to go. Will you take care of Shigure for me?"  
  
Ayame sniffed and nodded wordlessly as he pushed himself away from Hatori. "I'll do my best, 'Tori." Then he went to Shigure who was leaning against the doorway of the second room where the other new mother was. "'Gure, let's go home."  
  
Shigure nodded weakly and let Ayame help him away, through all the adults. The doctor and nurse were trying to wake up and Hatori would have to think up an excuse as to why they'd both fainted. Most of the adult Junikyu left the small house, now that the births were over. It wasn't until Hatori was in the ambulance and riding away with little Yuki and Yahiko, that he remembered Hiroko had been all but forgotten in the little infirmary with her fear and her new baby. He hoped that someone would have the sense to stay with her and explain things.  
  
  
  
Later-  
  
Akito-  
  
Ren had confined Akito to bed rest after the ceremony telling him that he'd get sick again if he got to tired, even though Akito was sure it was because Yahiko had made her leave and she was just angry. So Akito lay in his bed and he listened through the thin walls as Ren spoke to someone.  
  
"That arrogant freak!" Ren hissed angrily. "I'll have to get Yahiko out of the way, he's to dangerous, he'll ruin all my plans."  
  
"You have other concerns, too." A second woman's voice said. Akito thought he recognized the voice as Ren's sister, his aunt Yoko. "They'll get rid of you if they find out what you're telling Akito. Now you need to find a guardian for the rat and Ayame. They're orphans, now."  
  
Ren snorted. "Ayame's old enough to live on his own, he's not important. It's the rat, Yuki, we need to think about. That brat, Akito, is so obsessed with the rat that he'll do anything for it."  
  
"Whoever controls Akito controls the family." Yoko said. "The Junikyu will keep Akito occupied and you and I can run the family as we see fit, Ren. Make me Yuki's guardian and I'll make sure Akito gets Yuki all he wants. Akito's going to die soon anyway, the heads of the family always die at a fairly young age. In just a few years he'll be as mad as Akira was."  
  
"What about the Junikyu?" Ren asked. "They always take an interest in Akito. I don't know how they can stand it. First they suffer through Akira and now they pretend that Akito's going to be different."  
  
"They'll pleased if they don't have to deal with him." Yoko said.  
  
"Yes, that's true. Once they realize he's going to be just like Akira, not one of them will want anything to do with him, not even his mutt, Shigure. I can predict it, you know. As soon as they realize Akito's not looking, every one of them will get as far away from him as possible."  
  
"Not the older ones, surely. It's like a religion for them, keeping the head of the family closely guarded."  
  
"Well," Ren said slyly. "That's easily dealt with. I think we may see a few of our older, stronger relatives having sadly fatal accidents. Especially Yahiko. I want him gone."  
  
Both women laughed together and Akito fell asleep, crying. Akito didn't understand what the women were talking about, especially not that part about Yahiko, but he had understood one thing very clearly. Everyone was going to leave him. They were going to leave him all alone with Ren and they would sneak away. They didn't love him.  
  
To be continued...  
  
Author's note: I've recently heard a great deal about a character in Fruits Basket named Ren. No one seems to know who he/she is or their purpose, except that Akito doesn't like this person. I thought I'd add in Ren's character and see what develops.  
  
To those who have reviewed:  
  
A word of thanks. Your comments and questions and praise have encouraged me to write in every free moment I've had.   
  
Crystal- I love Shonen ai and yaoi, too :) Don't know how heavy it'll be, but it's always there, boiling in the background.  
  
Arain Rowan - I actually feel very sorry for Akito, I think he really is one of the most tragic characters in the story. I like to think that he went slowly mad of a period of time, not that he was born insane.  
  
Anne-Nime- Trust me, I know just when and where Count D will be coming into the story. I want the story to have just the right flavor, but he'll be in there, he's got a very important role to play, as well as Leon and Chris.  
  
Zeynel- Don't fret, it'll all come together. I hope you enjoy it.  
  
xxkurenaixx- I'm so glad you like it, Shigure's my favorite so that's why he seems to be the main character, but this whole story really leads up to Kyou. I think you'll like it.  
  
Merai-chan- Thanks for the review! Don't worry, I never write a story I don't intend to finish. Hana or Uo? Hmmm. I hadn't thought of them. Maybe I'll slip them in, I'm not sure. Evil? Yes, I am. Thank you. ~smiles~  
  
Tenshineechan- Your review brightens my day and makes me want to keep writing. I'm glad I've caught your attention and I'll do my best to keep it interesting.  
  
Melchoir- Glad you like it, I hope you keep reading.  
  
Chibi Koi-chan- I'll do my best to keep up the quality of the work. Thanks for taking the time to write.  
  
Pebbled Sky- You'll make my head swell if you keep that up. (Blush) But I'm very glad you like it.  
  
Yue's Lady- I'll get the chapters out as soon as I can, but I want to make them the best possible, so forgive me if they don't come out terribly quickly.  
  
Kireina- I always take care of Shigure, don't be upset. I'm happy you seem to be enjoying it.  
  
Keitorin- My head's swelling, but I'm happy you're enjoying this. Thanks for writing.  
  
The Baka Neko Rinoa- I'll always keep writing, and this story will be finished, I promise.  
  
Caiti- WOW! I'm impressed with your review and flattered by the time you took to write it. It's reviews like yours that encourage me to write not only faster, but better. Hope you enjoy the rest. I've love to chat with you, but I don't have AIM, I'm afraid. Would you like to email me?  
  
Tri- I'm flattered that you think it's the best. That really means a lot to me, considering how many good ones are out there. Petshop of Horrors is my all time favorite manga, I highly suggest it to everyone.   
  
  
  
Baki-chan- Please don't die! I'll always update as soon as possible, I promise! (Hee, hee)  
  
Keitorin- Thanks, that's one of the nicest compliments I've ever received. I love crossovers, it's practically all I do. Sorry I made you tired, though.  
  
Kaoru- I liked having Tohru as a pet, that'll have a bigger role later in the story.  
  
Meritite- Glad you're enjoying the story, I'll try to find those typos and fix 'em.  
  
Grrl N- Oh, I highly recommend Petshop of Horrors to anyone, fantastic show, but better manga. Anyway, I'm happy you took the time to review and hope you enjoy the future chapters.  
  
Yuyi- Thanks for the compliment, I'll do my best to live up to it.  
  
Arin Ross- I'm glad you think they're in character, it's hard to do when every character tries to hide who they really are and I have to guess at it. Shigure's my favorite character to do and he's also the hardest. I know most of the time he acts like an idiot, but I don't think that's how he started out. As for D, well, that's a surprise.  
  
Random reader- Er...actually...the count D who did all those horrible things, we'll leave that as a surprise.   
  
Bea-chan- Actually, this fic started out as Kyou's POV, but Shigure kind of took over.  
  
Rene- Don't worry, more is coming. 


	6. New Year's: Year of the Snake

Petshop of Horrors X-over Fruits Basket  
  
I'll bet all you Petshop of Horrors fans are wondering where the heck Count D and Leon are, by now. Trust me...there is method to my madness. The D and Leon will come, be patient. Right now, I'm having to much fun torturing Akito.  
  
Long Denied  
  
Chapter 6: New Year's  
  
Year: 1989-the year of the Snake  
  
Akito- 6  
  
Shigure- 12  
  
Hatori-11  
  
Ayame- 11  
  
Yuki-1  
  
Kureno-12  
  
Kagura-3  
  
Rin-3  
  
Ritsu-3  
  
Kyou-1  
  
Akito-  
  
"You really must get up, Akito-sama." Ren said as she went around the bedroom, cleaning up this or that. "You can't just stay in bed all day."  
  
Akito didn't open his eyes while Ren spoke. He just felt so tired lately, all he wanted to do was sleep. There was a terrible weariness deep inside his bones, but no matter how much he slept, it never seemed to get better. "Tired." Akito whispered, rolling over onto his side, away from Ren. He hoped that she would leave soon. "Open the window, Ren."  
  
"No." She answered bluntly. "We can't risk your health, after all, and it's the middle of the winter. A chill wind wouldn't be good for you."  
  
Akito pulled the thick blankets up over his head, burying himself in the darkness and blocking out the noise Ren was making around him. He'd told her before that he didn't like the noise, he wanted quiet. In all the noise, Akito was sure that he heard...things. He couldn't say why, but the noise made him uneasy. He started to get nervous and frightened for no reason. Under the covers of the thick blanket, the noise dulled and Akito was left in darkness.  
  
The blanket was yanked down from Akito's head and he blinked his tired eyes to find Ren looking down at him, disapprovingly. "Don't cover yourself up! You'll suffocate under there!" Then her expression softened and an unpleasant look came into her eyes. "Of course, maybe that's what you want. Maybe you want to die."  
  
Akito curled up into a ball and closed his eyes. 'She's just trying to hurt me. I don't care what she thinks. I don't want to die.' He squinted his eyes tighter closed. As he thought about that. To die. To be buried in the ground or burned up like a piece of paper. 'I have to die. I'm going to fade away and they'll all be happy I died. Everyone was so happy Akira died, even Shigure told me that. They'll be happy when I die, too.'  
  
Ren wasn't going to let the subject go so easily though. She went on happily, "I wonder who you'll chose as your replacement?"  
  
"Replacement?" Akito reluctantly opened his eyes and looked at Ren. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"Oh? Didn't I tell you?" She looked at him with a shark's smile. "You're going to have to chose a baby to take your place before you die. A sweet little baby who will step into your shoes and take over when you die and that little baby will go crazy, too. Akira chose you even before you were born. I remember it like it was yesterday. Akira went to you mother and paid her quite a good deal of money to have you. I wonder whatever happened to her. No matter, I guess. She left the day you were born."  
  
Of course Akito already knew that. It wasn't a horrible surprise, but he did get a heavy feeling in his stomach every time it was mentioned. He was disturbed by the idea of choosing someone to 'be just like him' and thought how cruel it would be to make someone else always be sick and tired.   
  
'But someone did that to me.' Akito thought bitterly. 'Ren said they didn't even really want me. All I was for was to carry the curse; they never even loved me. I don't want to do that to anyone else.' He yawned and put his head back on his pillow. 'I just want to sleep.' So, instead of yelling at Ren, like he wanted to, Akito rolled back over and pulled the blanket up to his chin. 'I'm so tired. I just want to fall asleep.'  
  
Ren had always been like this, but Akito didn't know why. What had he done to her that made her hate him so badly? No. Akito shook his head at that thought. Ren wasn't being mean, she was trying to help him. Ren was a Souma and Souma's always helped each other, she wouldn't hurt him.  
  
(Ren doesn't like you.)  
  
Akito rolled over, hoping to get away from the voice that whispered from inside his own head.  
  
(How could she? You're not a real person. She said it herself. You were born just so everyone else could live. Anyone could have taken your place.)  
  
Akito squeezed his eyes tightly shut and put his hands over his ears.  
  
(It's true and you know it. You're nothing. Worthless. They don't care about you. You're just a...)  
  
"Shut up." Akito whispered as softly as he could. "I don't have to listen to you."  
  
Thankfully, the voice went silent and Akito found his eyes drawn outside, passed the garden outside his house and to the great wall that surrounded the entire estate. Akito knew the wall went all around the estate, because Shigure had told him so. Shigure told Akito that the wall went all around the huge estate and told Akito about all the different houses, the river, the family temple, and the beautiful forests on the estate. Shigure also told Akito about the outside. Shigure spoke about the street market where he went to buy books from a second-hand bookstall and about the school he went to and about what it felt like to ride a train packed with people. Shigure often did that, even after Ren had yelled at Shigure for telling Akito tales.  
  
"You'll only upset him!" Ren had yelled when she caught Shigure in Akito's bedroom. "He can't go out, so why make him think about it anymore than he has to?! He'll never leave the estate, you don't need to be filling his head with things he can't possibly understand!"   
  
Shigure, as usual for him, had only smiled back, as if it didn't matter. Then, he'd winked at Akito over his shoulder. "How will he ever understand anything if you keep him locked up like a canary in a cage?" Shigure asked with a cheeky grin. Then Shigure had left, saying he had to go to school, but he would be back to read to Akito, later.  
  
Akito watched as the gates of the estate opened, yet again, to let in another car as more family arrived for the New Year's celebration and he sighed. 'I'll have to get up again.' He thought, thinking of how many people he'd had to meet and speak politely with over the past day or so.   
  
The phone rang and Ren left the room for the first time that morning. Akito looked at the still closed window, longingly. He wanted to get up and open the window, his bedroom felt so hot and stuffy, but...he was still so tired. It was such an effort just to sit up, Akito wasn't sure he'd be able to make it to the window and back to his bed.  
  
As he was looking at the window, Akito was pleasantly surprised to see a hand reach up and give the window a push, inwards. The window swung easily in and the hand waved at Akito before disappearing back down, letting a crisp winter breeze into the room.  
  
"Thanks, Shigure." Akito called softly.  
  
The hand popped back up and gave Akito a thumb's up, then went back down. Akito smiled. Shigure was always there when Akito needed him, even if Akito couldn't see him. 'He must have been sitting under the window the whole time.' Akito thought happily. It always made him feel safer to have one of 'his people' around. Not just a Souma, but one of the Junikyu. They were his, all his.  
  
Ren came back, holding the telephone in one hand with a very unhappy expression. "Akito-sama, it's for you." She held out the phone to him. She was so unhappy, it seemed, that she didn't even notice the now open window.  
  
Akito just stared at it for a moment. He had a call? No one ever called him. In fact, Akito had never even held the phone before as he had no one to call. "Hello?" Akito took the phone and spoke hesitantly.   
  
~Good morning, Akito-sama.~ Yahiko's voice came through the phone and Akito smiled. ~How are you today?~  
  
"Yahiko! How's Yuki? Can I talk to Hatori?" He hadn't been allowed to visit Yuki at the hospital, Ren had said it was to dangerous for his health. There were to many germs in a hospital and if Akito caught something, he'd get really sick, or so Ren told him. Almost a year had passed since Akito had seen his three missing family members and it just didn't seem right. Akito always felt much better when he knew everyone was at the estate and close enough that he could call them. It was bad enough that Sho, the hare, had just died and that little Ritsu lived so far away, at the hot springs. Even Ayame wasn't at the Main House, he'd been visiting the hot springs where Ritsu's family lived for a couple of months. Akito didn't like his family being so spread out.  
  
~Yuki's doing much better, Akito-sama. The doctor's say he's finally ready to come home. I just wanted to let you know that we're on our way. We should be home in a couple of hours.~  
  
"You're coming home? Really?!"  
  
As Akito was talking to Yahiko, Ren's expression was becoming more and more irritated until she snatched the phone from Akito. "You've been so tired, Akito-sama. Why don't you get some rest if Yahiko's going to be home soon." She looked at the phone darkly. "I'll talk to Yahiko for you."  
  
"But..."  
  
"No, buts!" She snapped before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.  
  
"I hate you." Akito whispered at the closed door, clenching his fingers around the blankets. "I hate you more than anything. Stupid woman!" Still, he was surprised when he started crying and hastily wiped the tears away. 'I'm not afraid and I won't cry. Someday, I'll be stronger. I don't care what everyone says, I'll get better and I'll make Ren go away.'  
  
The voice whispered to Akito, again, (You are afraid. You will cry. You'll never be strong enough to rule this family. Weak. You're sick and weak and you'll never be strong enough to make them love you.)  
  
Shigure-  
  
Shigure didn't feel a bit guilty for opening the window that Ren had explicitly ordered was to remain closed. Since he'd been sitting under Akito's window all morning, reading, he had managed to hear every word that Ren had spoken. Unlike Akito, Shigure did know why Ren was so awful to Akito and why she said such cruel things to hurt him.  
  
It was simple.  
  
Ren was stupid and she was a bully.  
  
Perhaps that wasn't a very technical analysis, but Shigure was puzzled why a woman who seemed pretty smart wasn't bright enough to treat Akito with respect instead of pushing him around. Surely, she must have known that if she treated Akito with more respect and compassion, she'd have gotten what she wanted without so much effort. The entire family, and even the Junikyu, would have done anything she wished. If Ren had used kind words and loving embraces, even if she didn't mean it, Akito would be more likely to do anything she wanted. As it was, Shigure knew that sooner or later Ren's cruel mouth would come back to haunt her. She would one day make Akito very, very angry and that, Shigure was sure, would be a bad thing not only for Ren, but possibly for everyone.  
  
Ren always told everyone that Akito's dedicate health had to be protected and for that reason he was usually confined to the house and to his bed. For the most part, Akito was rarely let out of his bedroom. It seemed like such a lonely life Ren was giving Akito.   
  
Shigure had gleefully, when Ren's back was turned, pushed the window open. It gave Shigure wicked delight to disobey the harsh Ren. Ren wasn't, no matter what she wanted everyone to think, the head of the family. Akito was the head, Akito was the master. Akito wanted the window opened, so the window would be opened.  
  
Despite the crisp air, Shigure was sitting outside, under one of the open windows of Akito's house, while reading when he'd heard the wonderful news. Akito obviously sounded delighted when he heard that Yahiko was bringing Yuki and Hatori home. Shigure almost dropped his book when he heard the news. 'Hari's coming home! Ayame's going to be so happy!'  
  
The whole family had been worried that Yahiko, Hatori, and little Yuki would miss the New Years celebration and, the Junikyu in particular, worried that they'd miss the banquet. That would be disaster, though Shigure wasn't entirely sure why. After all, no one had ever, ever missed the banquet. No matter where they were in the world, the Junikyu would always return to the Main House for the Banquet. Even Shigure, who thought many of the traditions concerning the Junikyu were stupid and senseless, respected that one. He would never miss the banquet. It would somehow just felt...wrong to miss such an important day.   
  
As much as Shigure wanted to jump and yell for happiness at the thought of Hatori coming home, he kept wisely silent. If Ren should find out he was near, she'd try to chase him away. If she noticed the open window, she'd order that he stayed away from Akito. Not that Shigure would listen, but she could make it hard for Shigure. Ren didn't like Shigure, she seemed to think that he talked to much and gave Akito to many ideas.  
  
Akito's happiness died when Ren rudely took the phone from him and ended the conversation. Ren's voice floated out the open window and met his ears, only making Shigure cringe a little. Shigure had long since stopped disliking Ren and started hating her. It had gotten to the point that the sound of her voice made his ears hurt.  
  
The door of Akito's room slid closed and Shigure realized that Ren must have left the room. Her voice came from the living room of Akito's house, floating out another open window and Shigure listened carefully to half the conversation.  
  
"You should have spoken to me first, Yahiko! You've managed to over-excite Akito-sama. What do you mean today? Are you sure? It's so cold out, won't he get sick... No! Don't be absurd! Of course I'm not trying to keep him or you away from the estate, I'm only thinking of Yuki's well being. Besides I don't want to get Akito-sama overly excited and he's just gotten settled down after Shigure's visit."   
  
There was a pause and Shigure thought about his last visit to Akito. He hadn't stopped by to actually talk to Akito since yesterday and Akito certainly hadn't been overly excited. In fact, he fell asleep in the middle of the story Shigure had been reading to him. Actually, Shigure had been trying to get Akito to come outside and play for a little while, just to get some fresh air, but Ren had forbidden it. Said the cold air wasn't good for Akito. She might have been right, but Shigure knew that Akito wanted to go out very badly. When he told Akito stories of what happened at school or a trip to the library, he could see the envy in Akito's eyes. It wouldn't hurt to let Akito take a ride in the car, once in a while. As far as Shigure knew, Akito had never even seen beyond the wall that surrounded the estate. He didn't know what a streetlight was or how to buy a carton of milk.  
  
Inside the house, Shigure heard Ren speak again. "Of course I like Akito-sama to be close to Shigure, but that dog always gets him so excited and wound up. You know I have only his best interests at heart. Now, don't you dare...! You have no right to say that, Yahiko!" Shigure heard Ren's breathing become harsher, as she struggled to keep her voice low. "I won't have it! I don't care a bloody...You know why I'm not yelling, you damned cow! No! No, there is no...don't you dare! There's no reason for Yuki to come home on a day like today; it's freezing outside and...no...no, don't...The New Year's celebration can't be so important as all that, I don't even know what you people do in that house!" Her voice faded away, but Shigure was to excited to even bother listening to the rest.  
  
Shigure dropped his book and leapt to his feet, bolting to the main gates as fast as he could. He was determined to be the first one to welcome them home. With use from an old tree that was nearly falling down, Shigure climbed to the top of the wall that surrounded the Souma estate where he sat and waited for his coming cousins.  
  
It had been almost a full year before Yuki had been allowed to come home from the hospital, a year in which Shigure barely ever got to see Hatori except for brief visits to the hospital after school. Thanks to Akito's order that Hatori stay with Yuki to guard against any...accidents, Hatori had missed almost a full year of school and was going to have to be tutored. 'It's a shame.' Shigure thought as he swung his legs over the edge of the wall and watched the road where he knew they'd be coming. ''Hari's the only one of us who really likes school and he's the one who had to miss it.' The bigger shame, and worry, was that they might be separated if 'Hari was forced to repeat his missed year.  
  
Shigure waited and waited, until he grew tired of simply watching the road and started to watch the people as they passed. Shigure had always liked watching people and he often found himself wondering what they were thinking and what they were doing. Housewives with their hair up in curlers as they did the daily shopping and thin women who had the vague appearance of sharks as they made their way to whatever business they had. Men in sharply cut suits or worn, faded jeans. Shigure liked watching them all. He even found himself wondering if there were any more families like his.  
  
'Stupid thoughts. Stupid curiosity.' Shigure knew he'd never know the answers to those sort of questions. So, he let his thoughts drift away as he lay back and looked up at the grey, overcast sky. Besides, today was no day for wondering about normal people; today the whole family would be together again.   
  
Ayame had already come home with Ritsu and his mother and had taken to spending quite a lot of time with the little monkey. A couple of months after his mother's death and Hatori had left to basically live at the hospital with Yuki, Ayame had abruptly announced he was leaving and was going to stay at the hot springs. Ayame was eleven now and an adult, according to Souma tradition, he could do anything he pleased. He didn't have to ask anyone's permission to do anything, except Akito.  
  
'He could have stayed with me, though.' Shigure thought, a little hurt. 'It wasn't like I wouldn't have let him stay at my house.' But Shigure did understand. Ayame had a lot of painful memories to deal with and he needed time away from the estate. It hurt that Ayame didn't think that Shigure could help him, but it hurt even more that Shigure knew he couldn't help Ayame. Ayame needed something Shigure just couldn't give him and Shigure didn't know what it was.  
  
As he waited, Shigure heard voice and he turned his head to see one of his cousins, Hiroko, walking with a friend of hers. It wasn't a strange scene, anymore, but one that made Shigure feel sick every time. It wasn't the fact that Hiroko was walking with a friend of hers, it was that she had left Kyou at home again. Shigure could understand it, in a logical sort of way. Hiroko had never even told anyone why she'd dropped out of school, shamed that she'd gotten pregnant. Now, she lived her entire life almost entirely confined to the estate and only ever got to talk to her friends when they came to visit.  
  
Little Kyou was slightly less than a year old and yet he continually got left at home alone like this. It wouldn't be so bad if Shigure thought Hiroko had left little Kyou with a baby-sitter, or something, but he knew she didn't. She was still frightened of her son, after all this time. She tried not to show it and she tried very hard to be the best mother she could be, but it was hard. Shigure knew for a fact that little Kyou had been outside his house only a handful of times in his life. Shigure knew it wasn't...unexpected for Kyou's mother to act like this, but it was disappointing. He'd hoped that little Kyou would have a better life than Toma.  
  
Shigure had heard that Kyou had lost the magic bracelet several times, trapping him in the monster form of the cat for more than an hour until his frantic mother had found the missing bracelet and gotten Kyou to put it on again. It shouldn't have surprised anyone who'd ever spent time with a baby. Kyou had often used the bracelet as a chew toy and he liked playing with the beads as if the bracelet were a little rattle. Those times when the bracelet had gotten lost, Hiroko had almost had a nervous breakdown and her screams had upset the entire family.  
  
Eventually, Hiroko and her friend came to the main gates and Hiroko stopped walking. Apparently, neither of them noticed Shigure sitting almost right above them, he was so well hidden by the tree he'd climbed to get to the top of the wall.  
  
"Hiroko, I'm going out for the day, do you want to come? We haven't had much time together lately." Her friend asked, with a bright smile.   
  
Hiroko looked back towards her house, biting her lip as she thought. "No." Hiroko turned back to her friend with a bright smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I think I'll spend the day with my brother, instead. I hope you don't mind, but we haven't had much quite time together, lately. He's been in Europe for months."  
  
Hiroko's friend laughed. "Yeah, your family's always been real big on the New Years celebration, hasn't it?" She looked around at the very crowded Souma Estate. "I've been here a dozen times, but I've never seen it this crowded before. I swear, you must have two hundred people here!"  
  
"Two hundred and fifty nine, to be exact." Hiroko forced a laugh that almost seemed real. "We've got family this year that I've never even met before! This is the one time during the whole year that everyone is home at the same time. During the year, we've got cousins and aunts and uncles who live in the city in their own apartments, but now they've all come back." She rolled her eyes. "No wonder little Akito-sama is so tired, he's got to talk to them all!"  
  
"Don't you find it strange that such a little kid is the head of your whole family?" Hiroko's friend glanced at the house where Akito lived. "Do you really take orders from him? I mean, isn't it normal for the oldest member of the family to be the head?"  
  
Hiroko's eyes got a little wild at the question, but she pulled herself together before her friend noticed. "It's just another of the weird traditions in the family. You know, we have so many of them. Akito was chosen at birth by the old head of the family."  
  
Her friend let it drop and Hiroko bid her friend farewell with a warm hug. "Will I see you tomorrow?"  
  
"No, I don't think so." Hiroko gave no reason for her declining and just waved good-bye before her friend walked out of the front gate and disappeared down the street. Hiroko watched her friend walk away before closing the gates and starting off at a slow plod back to her house where little Kyou was waiting for her.  
  
Shigure turned just in time to see Hatori and Yahiko walking down the sidewalk with Yahiko holding something in his arms, wrapped in blankets and he forgot about. Shigure jumped down from the wall, ready to meet everyone and Kyou taking a back seat in his mind.  
  
The front gate swung open and in walked Yahiko, holding a bundle wrapped tightly in a few layers of blankets, with Hatori at his side. While Hatori had his usual somber expression, Shigure could see something different in his eyes. 'I...am I seeing things?' Shigure watched Hatori even as he ran to greet his new cousin. 'I can't believe my eyes! Hatori...he's happy!' Few people would be able to see it, but Shigure was so close to Hatori that he could see the faint glimmer in Hatori's eyes and he knew something had happened to make Hatori very happy.  
  
Yuki was sleeping in Yahiko's arms and the moment Shigure ran to meet them, Yahiko shushed him. "Yuki just fell asleep, he's been crying since we left the hospital." Yahiko whispered. "I think he's afraid, this is the first time he's been out of the hospital." Yahiko knelt down on one knee to give Shigure a better look. "He's still pretty sick, so you'll have to be careful around him and as quiet as you can be..."  
  
"HARI!!!!" The screamed voice made Yahiko and Shigure look up, surprised, only to see a silver blur rush passed them and tackle Hatori. "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" Tears were running down Ayame's cheeks as he sat on Hatori and hugged him tightly. In his excitement, Ayame had knocked Hatori to the ground and was now rubbing his cheek against Hatori's. "It feels like I haven't seen you in years!"  
  
"You came for a visit only two nights ago." Hatori gently reminded him as he pushed on Ayame's shoulders to make him sit up.  
  
Ayame sniffed. "Well...it feels like years." Then he looked closer at Hatori and rubbed the tears off his face. "'Hari? What are you so happy about?"  
  
"I'm just glad to be home." Then, as if he couldn't stop it, a small smile curled the edges of Hatori's lips. "I...I think I know what I want to be when I grow up."  
  
"Oh?" Shigure asked, curiously.  
  
Hatori blushed a little. "I...I want to be an artist. A painter."  
  
"A painter?" Shigure was puzzled; he'd never even though Hatori liked art in school.  
  
Hatori's eyes lit up. "There was a painting they'd hung up in the hospital corridor, outside the room where they kept Yuki. It was a picture of a field of flowers. There was every color you could image all dotted on an endless field of green. The sky was the brightest blue and there were fluffy white clouds around the sun. In the middle of the field of flowers, there was a girl, a little girl with a yellow dress and a big red flower in her hair and she was looking up at the sun, just smiling. I don't think I've ever seen anyone look so happy." Hatori's smile was something that was rarely seen and Shigure felt a pang in his heart. For the first time in his life, Hatori found something he wanted, something that made him truly happy. "That's what I want to do. I want to paint happiness and bright spring mornings. I want sunshine and open skies."  
  
  
  
While Shigure was very happy Hatori had finally found something in life that made him so happy, Ayame was looking at Hatori with a mix of hurt and confusion in his eyes. 'I'll have to talk to Aya later.' Shigure's eyes focused on someone behind Ayame and he smiled. "Aya, you seem to have grown a new shadow."  
  
With a puzzled expression, Ayame turned around and smiled when he saw what Shigure saw. "Ah! Rit-chan! Come here and meet 'Hari! You'll like him." Ayame held out his hand for Ritsu, but Ritsu just shook his head and kept his feet planted where they were, looking at them, almost frightened.   
  
Ritsu was one of his cousins that Shigure didn't get to see very often, in fact Ritsu was only three and lived at the hot springs with his mother and father and, normally, Shigure only saw Ritsu on New Years.   
  
Ayame smiled at the little boy. "He's very shy, but I like him." Ayame smiled fondly at little Ritsu. "I stayed at his home for a while, when you were gone. It got kind of lonely on my own. You know, his parents are really weird." Ayame jumped off Hatori for a moment and ran to little Ritsu. "Come on, Rit-chan!" Despite Ritsu trying to get away, Ayame picked the child up in a tight hug and carried him over to Hatori. "He doesn't know anyone. Say hello, Rit-chan."  
  
Hatori looked solemnly at little Ritsu. "Hello."  
  
Ritsu's only reply was to throw his arms around Ayame's neck and bury his face in Ayame's hair.  
  
Shigure still wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that Ayame had packed a bag and left home the day his mother had died. Of course, Shigure knew how upset Ayame was, but he had barely waited for the funeral before he'd gone to the hot springs and asked it he could stay a while. Shigure couldn't help but feel a little hurt that Ayame would rather go live with their more distant family than him.  
  
Yahiko shot Ayame a hard look, clearly telling him to be silent. "Ayame, do you want to meet your brother? You two haven't had much time together, yet." He held out the little boy in his arms and Shigure heard a pitiful, weak whimpering from Yuki. It seemed that Yuki really didn't like the cold.  
  
Ayame's pleasant face turned cold and he looked away. "Maybe another time. I have to get ready for the banquet now. 'Hari, you come with me." Holding Hatori and little Ritsu by the hand, Ayame pulled his friend away as quickly as he could and Shigure found himself alone with Yahiko and Yuki.  
  
"He doesn't mean it." Shigure told Yahiko defensively. "Aya's still hurt. He doesn't mean to be mean."  
  
"Yeah. I know. I hope he gets over it soon. For Yuki's sake and his own." Yuki was nearly a year old, but, to Shigure, he still looked so small and pale. Colorless might have been a good word to describe Yuki, all grey and white with pale purple eyes when he blinked up weakly at Shigure, but didn't make a sound. Shigure remembered Kyou who was so chubby and pink cheeked. "He doesn't look anything like Kyou." Shigure commented and he noticed Yahiko wince. "They're the same age, shouldn't they look more alike?"  
  
"Yuki can't help it. He's still very sick and he'll probably be sick for a long time. Kyou was luckier, he's much stronger. You'd best keep comments like that to yourself, Shigure." Yahiko held little Yuki tightly to his chest and wrapped his coat around the baby. "There are a lot of people who'd be upset to hear you comparing the rat to the cat."  
  
Shigure nodded his understanding. Strange, most of the people who were upset and hated the cat were the family who were NOT apart of the Junikyu, the people who didn't really know why some of the family were elevated about the others. Shigure wondered what the mundane members of the Souma family thought of the Junikyu and he wondered if they were curious about how the Junikyu were chosen.   
  
'They don't know anything.' Shigure decided, remembering little Kyou and knowing how lonely Kyou's life was likely to be. 'None of them know anything. I suppose I know more than anyone, even the other Junikyu, 'cause of that book. I wonder...what would I do if I ever met that D guy?'  
  
"Let's take him in, shall we?" Yahiko said, standing up a little straighter as he looked at Akito's house. "I think our little lord would like to see Yuki."  
  
Indeed, Akito came running out of the house in little more than his lightweight kimono and his feet completely bare. "Yahiko! Is he here? Let me see him!" Akito's breath came out in smoky puffs as he nearly shouted and Shigure had to smile. He'd never seen Akito look quite so happy before and he looked more awake than he had in days. Akito's strange tiredness was wiped away by the arrival of his long awaited rat.  
  
Sadly, Akito wasn't alone and Ren came following him quickly. "Akito-sama! Get back inside! You'll catch your death out here!" She shot a smirk at Yahiko even as she wrapped her possessive fingers over Akito's shoulders as she came to stand behind him. "Not that the cow cares!"  
  
"Shut up, Ren. I've had enough of you in the last two seconds to last a lifetime." Yahiko scowled blackly at Ren, but he put his hand out to Akito and pulled him in close, away from Ren, so Akito could get a good look at baby Yuki. "He's going to be sick for a long time, so we're going to have to be easy with him, all right, Akito-sama?"  
  
Akito looked at Yahiko with wide eyes. "But, his mother's dead. Where's he going to live? Will he live with Ayame? Can he live with me?"  
  
Yahiko opened his mouth to answer, but whatever he was going to say was never heard as Ren spoke up sharply.   
  
"My sister will raise Yuki." Ren told Yahiko coldly. "There's no one I trust more and with her as his guardian Akito-sama will be able to see little Yuki as much as he likes. We all want Akito-sama to be happy, don't we?"  
  
"Your sister?" Yahiko scowled, holding Yuki closely. "Yoko already has her own child and she ships poor Kureno off to some boarding school in Europe every year! Yuki should be raised by one of us, one of the Junikyu."  
  
"Who better to raise Yuki than someone who already understands the Junikyu curse and accepts it? I can trust her to do what I want her to do with him. Besides all that, she's married and will have someone to give Yuki a well rounded up bringing. He'll have a mother and a father with Yoko, that's something you can't give him, Yahiko."  
  
"What has THAT got to do with anything?!" Yahiko demanded, raising his voice angrily. "Since when have we cared about people being married?" Yahiko was right about that. It wasn't uncommon, even in the past, for many members of the Souma family to have children without being married. It just didn't matter so much, since the family could easily suppose all its members.  
  
Ren stepped up, nose to nose with Yahiko, and smiled. "You don't understand, I've already appointed Yoko as Yuki's guardian, as the head of the Souma family. It's already done, in fact. The papers are all signed and legal. There's no point in protesting, cow." She sneered when she said his animal side, showing her dislike for him. "There's nothing you can do about it." She reached forward to take Yuki, but Yahiko stepped backwards, away from her.  
  
"You are NOT the head of our family!" Yahiko snarled.  
  
"According to the law, I am." Ren smirked at him. "Until Akito-sama turns of age, I am the head of the family and I can do what I like with this family."  
  
"Don't think you're being clever, Ren." Yahiko glared. "I know what you're trying to do and you're on very thin ice with the Junikyu. You've got Akito, legally, and now you want Yuki under your control. It's not going to work. I won't let you have our family. The Junikyu control this family, not you."  
  
"Strange how I always seem to get what I want, though, isn't it?" Ren replied.  
  
"Remember, you're only Akito's guardian so long as you live." Still holding onto Yuki, Yahiko offered Akito his hand. "Let's go inside, shall we? You really shouldn't go out without a coat on." Together, they started walking away, around Ren, and back to Akito's house.  
  
Ren, after fuming silent for a moment, set off on a fierce march after them, determined not to let Akito out of her sight.  
  
Left behind, Shigure thought about what he'd heard. 'You're only Akito's guardian so long as you live.' Shigure wasn't so stupid that he didn't know a threat when he heard one. Of course Shigure didn't like her, but, as far as he knew, Ren hadn't really done anything bad. She hadn't hurt anyone and she was trying to take care of Akito, even if she didn't do a very good job at it. Wasn't she?  
  
Shigure stood alone at the still open front gate and watched Akito happily walk away, talking to Yahiko about Yuki with Ren trailing closely behind, keeping her watchful eyes on Akito. His eyes, though, weren't on the adults and he wasn't thinking about little Yuki.   
  
Shigure was watching Akito. 'I had a dream...of the one I love most of all.'  
  
That night-  
  
Shigure-  
  
On the third day of New Year's, the Junikyu made their way to their house. Of course, they all had their own separate houses where they lived for most of the year. Their house, the Junikyu house, was different, though. There was no furniture in the house, just a single, huge room. The house stood empty for all but twenty-four hours of the year. This night. From midnight until midnight, all of the Junikyu would spend their time together in their house.  
  
Shigure had, like everyone else in the Junikyu, worn his best clothes for the banquet. It wasn't as if he put on a suit and tie, that just wouldn't be right. No, Shigure was dressed in an elaborate robe of dark green silk. It was different from last year's robe that he'd worn to the banquet, not because he'd grown, but because it was tradition that every year be different. It wasn't just Shigure, though. Ayame had designed his own outfit, and was very proud to say that he'd done most of the sewing himself, too. Even Hatori was dressed up in pale yellow silk and flowing robes. It didn't seem at all strange to see Hatori so dressed up, either. Shigure had heard comments from many of the family members who weren't cursed, and therefore had no idea what they were talking about, that Ayame looked so cute dressed up in bright colors, but that Hatori looked simply odd.   
  
All of the Junikyu filed down the pathway that led to the Junikyu House with blank faces and completely ignored the crowds of people staring at them from both sides of the path, as if they were a parade or freak show. That was tradition, too. Ritsu, always so silent and frightened, walked practically on Ayame's heels. Hatori was just in front of Ayame and, at the front of the line, the rat went first. Of course, Yuki didn't walk. He was still to weak to walk, but Yahiko carried him.  
  
As was custom, Akito was waiting for them at the door of the house of the Junikyu, dressed in his finest robes of silver and black. Really, he was dressed befitting a king. Gold, silver, and precious gems of all kinds adorned the tiny head of the Souma family in an ornate headdress that decorated his. It was all the family treasure, inherited jewelry that had been passed down throughout the centuries. He looked more like a decoration than anything else and Shigure doubted that anyone on Earth could look so magnificent as Akito did just then. He looked proud of them as he watched the Junikyu proceed towards him. For once, Shigure was happy to see, Ren was nowhere near Akito. Most likely, she was in the crowd of family, waiting to snatch Akito away the moment she could, but in this, she had no place.  
  
Still, as they made traditional procession to the lonely house at the very heart of the estate, Shigure watched, from the corners of his eyes, the rest of the family, surrounding them. All the many, many family who had all come for New Years were crowded around the pathway that led from Akito's house to the ornate house just behind Akito's. It was always told to outsiders that Akito's house was the center of the estate, but the truth was that the center of the estate was this richly decorated little house where the Junikyu always spent the New Years.  
  
Shigure saw, sadly, behind all the rest of the family, little Kyou following his mother away from the crowd of family. Little Kyou was looking over his shoulder at them, curious, but he didn't try to stay. As for Kyou's mother, she had her head bowed as she took hurried her son away. Hiroko didn't touch Kyou, she rarely did. Instead, she just walked away from the rest of the family and little Kyou trailed after her, struggling to keep up with his awkward gait.   
  
New Years was a special treat for little Kyou, Shigure knew. Like Akito, little Kyou was rarely seen outside his house, though it wasn't for his health. She never came out and admitted it, never even let anyone speak badly about little Kyou in her hearing without flying into a defensive rage, but Hiroko didn't like people to look at Kyou. She was defensive when the rest of the family would put little Kyou down, insulting him just because he'd been declared to be 'the cat'.   
  
Strange.  
  
Most of the family didn't even know why little Kyou was the cat. As they didn't understand why any of the Junikyu were declared at birth to be one of the honored zodiac animals. It as widely thought to be a whim of the head of the family that made one of the Junikyu, just chance. They only knew that Akito had released an announcement that the newborn Souma Kyou was the cat. Everyone knew that the cat was traditionally hated and ostracized, but they didn't know why anymore than they knew why the rat was practically revered. Akito didn't openly hate little Kyou, in fact, Akito ignored him for the most part.   
  
Still, to gain Akito's good favor, everyone in the family was willing to make little Kyou and Hiroko's lives miserable. They snubbed not only little Kyou, who didn't understand what was going on, but also his mother. It was harder on Hiroko who'd given up high school and almost all of her friends to raise little Kyou and now, to make it all harder, her own family wanted nothing to do with her.  
  
No doubt, Hiroko had stayed at the family's celebration as long as she could stand the snide comments from her family before she escaped with her son. While the rest of the cursed family was put on display and dressed up as if they were nobles out of a fairy court, honored, little Kyou was left in the dust. Deliberately forgotten.  
  
'What would everyone do if they knew how important Kyou is? He's the cat and the book said the cat was very important. That D guy worked very hard to get the cat away from the family. Kyou must be important, but I wonder...exactly WHY is he important? What was he to the family back then?'  
  
Akito opened the doors of the Junikyu's house, which were locked the rest of the year. In fact, only Akito held the key to open the lock on this house. Without a word, Akito pushed with all his might against the large wooden doors until they swung open and the interior of the house was revealed. It was a simple room, wooden walls and floor, with no furniture, decorations, or windows. There were brightly colored cushions that lined the room and several large candelabras with long white candles stood, waiting to be lit.  
  
Turning to the line of Junikyu who stood waiting patiently in line outside the little house, still in plain sight of the rest of the Souma family, and said, "I invite you all in." Akito said formally, giving a slight bow to the parade of the Junikyu.   
  
The Junikyu filed in slowly, no one seeming rushed or in any kind of a hurry. The family around them, who really had no idea what this was all about, except that it was tradition, were talking loudly and laughing happily at the yearly display, some of them were even cheering. Most of the family was drunk now, but that didn't stop them from trying to cheer. The Junikyu didn't acknowledge or react to anything their family did or said. Instead, they all proceeded in almost deathly silence.  
  
Akito was the last one to enter the house and he closed the doors behind him with a soft 'clink' of the key as it turned in the lock. Shigure only knew this because he heard the lock, not because he was watching Akito. At this time, he, like all of the Junikyu, kept his eyes straight ahead. They all walked to about ten feet in front of a large pile of pillows and cushions where Akito would sit for the entire banquet. They lined up, shoulder-to-shoulder, and stared at the spot that was Akito's place of honor.  
  
Akito walked, his footsteps soft on the floor, around the line of people until he came to stand at his spot. In all his finery, Akito turned his eyes on the Junikyu and, in unison, they all dropped to their knees and pressed their foreheads to the still cold wooden floor. They were safe, away from the prying eyes of outsiders. It was time for them to show their love and devotion to their god.  
  
They were almost groveling on the floor, they were all bent down so low. Everyone from Kagura, Rin, and Ritsu, up to the oldest of the family, the elderly Tiger, bowed at Akito's feet. Shigure was glad to do it. Unlike most of the year, when they all felt like freaks, this night made them feel different. This night made them feel special. They would stay like this, with their foreheads pressed to the floor, until Akito gave them leave to rise.  
  
Akito waited a moment before he said, "Rise, my beloved children. For this night, this single night, we are away from prying eyes. We are reunited, once more." Akito sighed tiredly, before he continued with the last part of the set speech. "This eagerly awaited night will not last long. Dance and show me your joy."  
  
At that, chaos broke loose. There was no music, no specific dance, but everyone jumped to their feet at that single and started dancing. Any rhythm they wanted, any dance was acceptable. There were no rules.  
  
Shigure leapt to his feet and began spinning wildly, howling as loudly as he could with his face raised to the ceiling. Ayame seized Hatori by the hands and together, the two started to spin around the room wildly until even Hatori was giggling helplessly. The littler children ran here and there, screaming at the top of their lungs in a game that was something like tag. Even Ritsu, now without the security he seemed to find in Ayame, became bolder now that he was alone with people who accepted him. Ritsu danced lightly over to where Yahiko was swaying gently with Yuki in his arms. Ritsu stood on his toes and asked Yahiko something, but Shigure was to far away to hear it. Yahiko smiled at the little monkey and knelt down on one knee to give Ritsu a better look at little Yuki. Ritsu smiled shyly at the little boy.  
  
Shigure became lost in the music in his own head. There was no music, really, but Shigure was so happy it seemed like the room was filled with the most beautiful music. Everyone was laughing and smiling and even Akito, still seated comfortably on his soft cushions and pillows, was smiling at his family with true happiness. Today, for this one night and day, no one could touch them. The outside world couldn't interfere and hurt them. As he made his way around the room, Shigure danced with everyone. He took little Rin up in his arms and swung her around a few times, then gave Kagura a chance to stand on his feet while he danced for her. He even let Ritsu climb on his back and gave the shy little boy a piggyback ride around the room as he ran at top speed.  
  
At times, the party would slow down as people stopped the wild dancing to rest on the soft cushions and to just talk. Sometimes, this would be a time for holding one another and even more...intimate comforts. Shigure was almost laying down on the pillows, exhausted already by all the dancing he'd done and the it wasn't even dawn yet, when his eyes fell on Ayame and Hatori.  
  
The two were still on their feet, though Hatori moved much slower than Ayame. They had their arms around each other and were talking softly as they swayed gently to whatever inner music suited them. Then, much to Hatori's surprise, Ayame leaned forward and kissed him. Hatori didn't move away or try to stop Ayame, he just stood there. It seemed to last for a very long time until Ayame broke the kiss and laughed. From what Shigure saw, it looked like Ayame was trying to make a joke of the kiss he'd stole before he pranced away from Hatori and sat next to Shigure.  
  
"That was brave." Shigure whispered, cuddling into Ayame's side.  
  
Ayame said nothing.  
  
"You kind of surprised me."  
  
Still, Ayame was silent and sat still as a statue. They both watched while Hatori stared after Ayame for a moment before another family member swept him away into another dance.  
  
"Aya," Shigure put a hand on Ayame's knee and looked at his friend. "Are you..." There were tears in Ayame's eyes, but he refused to let them fall and kept a smile on his face.  
  
"Hari's never going to love me, is he?" Ayame said softly.  
  
"He loves you." Shigure reassured Ayame.  
  
"No." Ayame shook his head, then he turned and put his arms around Shigure, leaning in to put his head on Shigure's shoulder. "He loves me like a brother, but not how I want him to love me. He never will."  
  
"Aya..." Shigure let Ayame rest on him and began petting his friend's hair. He wanted to tell Ayame that they were still only kids. Ayame and Hatori hadn't even had their twelfth birthdays, yet. It seemed like such an unfair thing to say, though, especially coming from Shigure. Shigure was only a few months older than his two friends, yet he'd already decided who he was going to love. How could he tell Ayame that his infatuation with Hatori was nothing to get so worked up about? He simply couldn't tell Ayame that he was still a child and couldn't really know what he wanted. No. That would be to cruel and demeaning. "People change with time, Aya." Shigure ended up saying. "You and Hatori are both still young."  
  
"He likes girls." Ayame continued as if Shigure hadn't spoken at all. "He never once looked at me the way I wanted him to. I don't know why. I'm prettier than any girl he's ever met. I'd do anything for him. It's not like he can ever marry a girl. Why...why aren't I good enough?"  
  
"It's not that." Shigure tried to explain. "You can't help who you love. It just happens. Hari loves you as much as he can, but, well, he just likes girls more than boys." Shigure felt miserable as he tried to comfort Ayame, but knew there was nothing he could really say to make this any easier on Ayame. Shigure felt Ayame's hands tighten on the back of his robes and Ayame started to shake. "Did you tell Hari? Did you tell him how you felt when you kissed him?"  
  
"No. I wanted to know before...well, he didn't kiss me back. He just stood there and I could tell he didn't feel a thing." Ayame sniffed. "So I told him I was joking. Just teasing him. I won't tell him, now. You can't tell my secret, either, 'Gure. If he knew, I think Hari would feel guilty. I don't want him to feel bad. He might get sick again and have to start taking those pills."  
  
Shigure could understand Ayame's reasoning, even if he didn't quite agree with it. Hatori had, when he was younger, been suicidal and had been on drugs that kept him from hurting himself. Both Shigure and Ayame had, since then, kept a close eye on Hatori to make sure he didn't go back to being so depressed.  
  
"All right." Shigure agreed. "So long as you want me to, I'll keep your secret."  
  
"Good." Ayame looked up and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his robe. "I want Hari to be happy. More than anything else." He struggled to give Shigure a smile. "Do you know when I think I realized I had no chance? It was just this morning, when he told us about that painting at the hospital he saw. I don't know why, but the way he described that girl in the painting...he sounded so happy." Ayame began crying at that and he put his face on Shigure's shoulder.  
  
Hatori was there before Shigure could say a word to Ayame and he sat on Ayame's other side. "Aya? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Hatori asked anxiously. He looked carefully at Ayame, as if he expected to find some kind of injury. He said nothing about the stolen kiss and Shigure wondered if Hatori would ever think to mention it again.  
  
"Hari," Ayame said, not lifting his face from the folds of Shigure's robes. "I want you to erase my memory."  
  
Hatori's eyes went wide and he looked at Shigure over Ayame's head. "You...you what?"  
  
"I want to forget." The despair in his voice was heartbreaking and Shigure wished he could tell Hatori about it, but he'd already promised Ayame that he wouldn't.  
  
Hatori thought for a moment, obviously trying to figure out what was so awful that would make Ayame want to forget everything. "You want to forget Yuki?"  
  
Of course Hatori would think that Yuki was the problem, he didn't seem to think himself of any importance.   
  
"I want to forget all of you." Ayame replied, his voice muffled by the cloth of Shigure's robes.  
  
"No." Hatori's answer was so abrupt and cold that Ayame looked up at him with eyes red from crying. It was rare to get Hatori angry. He had, perhaps, the best nature of any person Shigure had ever met. It really took something earthshaking to make Hatori mad. Apparently, Ayame's request had done it. "How can you be so cruel?" Hatori demanded. "I know you don't like little Yuki, but what about me and Shigure? Why do you want to forget us? What would we do without you?! Why...that's just...that's just selfish!"  
  
Ayame stared at Hatori for a moment, speechless. Then, without warning, Ayame flung himself away from Shigure and into Hatori's arms. He cried again for a moment, but when he sat up straight, Ayame was smiling again. "Thanks, Hari. Will you dance with me again?"  
  
"Sure." Hand-in-hand, they walked back out onto the floor and started dancing together, as if nothing had happened. Ayame didn't kiss Hatori again, but Shigure was happy that at least Ayame seemed content. Hatori wasn't really insensitive, Shigure knew, he simply didn't think anyone could love him as much as Ayame did, so he couldn't understand Ayame's feelings.  
  
It was then that Shigure noticed someone he somehow had failed to see earlier. Near the back of the room, standing right beside the door, was Kureno.  
  
'I haven't seen him for months!' Shigure realized all of a sudden. 'His mom said he was away at boarding school, didn't she?'  
  
Kureno didn't dance, he simply stood by the locked door and watched everyone around him. As custom demanded, Kureno was dressed just as marvelously as all the other Junikyu, but he didn't take any joy in the banquet. Kureno was very handsome, for all that he was still so young, younger than Shigure. The rooster of the Junikyu was only nine years old and there was something about him that put Shigure on edge, even as he sat with Ayame huddled against him. There was a hardness in Kureno's eyes, as he carelessly scanned the room, something that distanced himself from everyone else.  
  
Kureno stood with his back to a wall and his arms hanging at his sides, the bright red and gold of his robes complimenting his striking face and fair hair. His eyes were black as ink and Shigure felt a definite...something...when those black eyes fell on him. It wasn't fear, exactly, but just at that moment, Shigure knew that Kureno was dangerous. He knew that Kureno was capable of very bad things.  
  
Shigure wasn't used to being this worried about another member of the Junikyu and it made him nervous. Still, Shigure did nothing but watch Kureno was the evening wore on and into the day. Occasionally, people fell asleep on the soft cushions, but it never lasted long before someone would jump to their feet and start dancing again. Ayame came back to sit beside Shigure where he began to fall asleep just before Yahiko came over.   
  
Yahiko smiled at Ayame. "It's almost time, Ayame."  
  
Ayame looked up from the half-doze he'd fallen into on Shigure's shoulder and rubbed his eyes. "Time?" He asked drowsily.  
  
Yahiko chuckled. "Time for your dance. You hadn't forgotten, had you? It's your year."   
  
"Forgotten, of course not!" Ayame stretched to wake himself up. Then he stopped and stared at Yahiko who had thrust Yuki onto Ayame's lap. "What...?"  
  
"I haven't had much of a chance for dancing, since I've been taking care of Yuki-chan. Why don't you keep an eye on him for a while, so I can relax a bit?" Yahiko was away before Ayame could even open his mouth to protest and when Ayame looked to Shigure for help, Shigure hopped to his feet.   
  
"I think I'll go see how Akito's doing. Have fun with Yuki." Shigure didn't feel a bit guilty as he left Ayame alone with Yuki for the first time. He was quite aware of what he and Yahiko had just done and how helpless Ayame was probably feeling. Still, it was what Ayame needed. True to what he'd said, Shigure went to sit by Akito, though Akito surely didn't know it. The small boy had long since fallen asleep and curled up comfortably on the cushions.  
  
Shigure sat as close to Akito as he could without waking him, but kept his eyes alternately on Ayame, who was holding Yuki as if the boy would bite, and Kureno who still looked very uncomfortable and out of place. At one point, Akito woke up long enough to shift his position so he could put his head in Shigure's lap.  
  
"What are you staring at?" Akito asked.  
  
"Kureno. I haven't seen him all year, so it's kind of weird seeing him again. He looks different." Shigure replied, putting a hand on top of Akito's head.  
  
Akito's eyes went to where Shigure had indicated. "He doesn't look very happy." There was disapproval in Akito's voice. "Doesn't he like being with us?"  
  
"Don't know." Shigure said with a shrug. "I haven't spoken with him, yet. Do you..." Shigure didn't have time to finish his sentence, because when he looked back down at Akito, the child had fallen asleep again. Shigure smiled and brushed his hand though Akito's dark grey hair and smiled. "I guess it can wait till later." Shigure looked back at Ayame and his smile grew.  
  
Ayame still sat where Shigure had left him and was staring down at Yuki in his arms. What was going through his head, Shigure would never know, but there was a tiny smile trying to break out on Ayame's lips and that tiny smile told Shigure that all was not lost between the two brothers.  
  
Sadly, that moment of closeness ended for the two when Ayame was told that it was time for him to dance the year out. The rest of the family retreated to the boarder of the room, sitting on the cushions and pillows with everyone's eyes on Ayame, waiting. Ayame gave Yuki back to Yahiko, who seemed to have declared himself the little rat's protector, before he made his way to the middle of the room and began his dance.  
  
Ritsu-  
  
Ritsu really didn't know what was going on. He knew what he was supposed to do, Ayame had taught him that he should bow as soon as they all lined up in the room, but he really wasn't sure why he was in the house full of all these happy people. Ayame had helped Ritsu to dress earlier, and Ritsu was so happy that he could make Ayame happy. It felt good to finally do something right.  
  
The words of his father and his mommy's tears were still to fresh in his mind. Mommy was always crying, but Ritsu couldn't understand why. Father said it was Ritsu's fault, but Ayame said it was father's fault.  
  
Ritsu loved Ayame.  
  
He watched Ayame walk to the middle of the room and start dancing in the dead silence of the room. Ayame was so graceful and there was so much energy in his dance that Ritsu couldn't take his eyes off the older boy.  
  
Ayame always seemed so perfect, with his beauty and his always-happy demeanor. Ayame had breezed into life at Ritsu's home like a whirlwind and there was no stopping him when he decided what he wanted. His arguments with Ritsu's father were breathtaking and Ritsu, even as he watched Ayame dance, remembered the first argument between the two when Ayame had first come to the hot springs.  
  
Flashback-  
  
"He's got no right to be here!" Ritsu's father had thundered, slamming his fist on the dining room table. "That spoiled brat has plenty of people he can stay with at the estate, there's no reason for him to come here and..."  
  
"But, dear," Ritsu's mommy said with her normal, demure voice. "He's a Souma. Not only is he a Souma, but he's one of the Inner Circle, like our darling Ritsu. It's Ayame's right to be here whenever he pleases." She was pointing out what every Souma knew and accepted. All except Ritsu's father.  
  
"Did I ask?!"   
  
Ritsu, from where he'd been peering around the corner of the dining room door, ducked away, afraid that his angry father would see him.   
  
"All those Inner Circle freaks think the world revolves around them. I hate how they're always given everything. Those children. For God's sakes, the family gives them houses before they even hit puberty! They've done nothing to earn it! All those special privileges they get, the fancy schools, allowances that mean they'd never have to work...damn it! All for what? Nothing! They've done nothing while I slave away at this God forsaken hole working for tips from ugly old woman who think a day in a bath will turn back time!"  
  
Ritsu shivered at his father's voice and wrapped his arms around his knees. He didn't like this, didn't like it at all.  
  
"Dear," Ritsu's mother spoke again, her voice trembling and smaller than it had been before. It was always like this. Father would get angry, then mommy would get scared. She's start crying and apologizing. "Please, don't call the Inner Circle freaks. Our Ritsu..."  
  
"Is one of them. Don't remind me of that shame!"  
  
"I'm sorry." Ritsu's mommy sobbed. "I'm sorry, please, don't get upset. Don't yell."  
  
Ritsu felt tears spring to his eyes. He wasn't entirely sure what 'shame' meant, but he knew he was one. From the way his father spoke, it certainly wasn't a good thing.  
  
"They get the privileges because of the curse. We're lucky we don't suffer from it."  
  
"Curse my ass! So they change into animals? Big deal!" By now, Ritsu's father was shouting and Ritsu, though he didn't dare look around the corner at his parents, knew his father was pacing from the sound of heavy footsteps. "They're treated like royalty! Your darling Ritsu will be taken to the Main House, soon enough. They'll want to give him his own house, too. My own damned son will have a better life than me before he's even in high school. That's just not fair!"  
  
From where he was listening, Ritsu wanted to break down in tears He knew he shouldn't, knew he should go back to his room before he had a break down, but he just couldn't help the choked sob that escaped his lips.   
  
Almost instantly, Ritsu felt someone seize him by the collar and lift him up off the floor. "What the Hell do you think you're doing!?" Ritsu's father glared at his son, furiously.  
  
"I'm sorry!" Ritsu wailed, but not really sure what he was sorry about. It was what mommy did when father yelled at her, so Ritsu knew it was the right thing to say. "I'm sorry! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!" He repeated this over and over, his voice getting louder and more frantic with each moment as his father carried him to the middle of the dining room, but it didn't appease his father at all.  
  
"This sorry excuse for son will have more than I'll ever have and it'll all be given to him on a silver platter by the leader of the freaks, Akito!" He gave Ritsu a final shake before dropping him.  
  
Ritsu closed his eyes and waited to hit the floor, but he didn't. Something warm and soft caught him. There was a puff of smoke and Ritsu found himself as a small monkey. When Ritsu opened his eyes, his mommy was holding him. She must have dove off her chair to catch him. "My little one? Are you all right?" She asked, giving him a weak smile. When Ritsu saw her smile, though, he noticed her chin was bleeding from a small cut. She must have hit her chin when she hit the floor to catch Ritsu.   
  
"Mommy...I'm sorry." Ritsu whimpered.  
  
"You see!" Ritsu's father was there again, now pacing around them. "You see how it is! Damned little coward! Were you eavesdropping? Trying to get something juicy to tell Akito when you see him? Don't even think about it! I'm your father and you'll do as I say, not that pampered whelp!"   
  
Ritsu didn't dare to look up at his father, but he kept his mouth closed, trying not to cry. Ritsu wanted nothing more than to please his family, but he knew, somewhere deep inside, that if Akito asked him, Ritsu would tell him anything. He would obey Akito before his father.   
  
All this time, Ritsu was aware of his mommy curling herself slowly around him, tucking him almost underneath herself. She said nothing, but there was a determined look on her face. Ritsu knew what was coming. He tightened his fingers around his mommy's arms and waited for his father to hurt him. Father always did that when he was angry, even though Ritsu's mommy tried to stop him. She just wasn't strong enough.  
  
Just when Ritsu's father seemed to reach his breaking point, the man stopped pacing and pulled back a leg, as if he would kick them. Ritsu closed his eyes and waited, but, again, there was no pain.  
  
"Good morning."  
  
Everything stopped and Ritsu looked out from the protective cage of his mother's arms to see Ayame, still in his pink, flowery dressing gown, smiling at the scene in the dining room. It wasn't a very nice smile.  
  
Ritsu's father lowered his leg and said nothing. Ritsu's mommy seemed to relax the moment Ayame had spoken and Ritsu stared in awe at Ayame. There was no one more beautiful as Ayame, Ritsu had been convinced of that the moment Ayame had arrived the day before, but now, he looked so...strong.  
  
Ayame's smile was cold and his eyes with like flint as he slowly padded into the room on bare feet.   
  
"Ayame-san," Ritsu's father spoke with respect in his words, if not his tone. "What can I do for you?" It was very clear that he was still angry.   
  
"Ayame-san?" Ayame echoed in a mocking tone. "How very strange. Just now I thought you'd referred to me as a spoiled brat. Was I mistaken? Did I hear wrong?" Ayame was still a child, he was only about half the size of Ritsu's father and had to look up at the large man. Despite all that, Ayame didn't flinch. "Perhaps my hearing's going bad? What do you think?" By now, he was standing toe to toe with Ritsu's father and looked up at him with those hard, golden eyes. His hands were clasped behind his back, giving him an air of helplessness.  
  
"I would never call you a spoiled brat, Ayame-san." Ritsu's father said through clenched teeth. It was a lie that Ayame didn't seem to believe.  
  
"You also didn't just call Akito-sama a pampered whelp, then, did you?" Ayame's thin smile tightened at the insult he must have heard. "You wouldn't call the head of our family pampered."  
  
"No, Ayame-san. I wouldn't."  
  
"Ah. Then I suppose I also didn't see you about to hurt your family, did I? My family? Akito won't be pleased if I report to him how you're treating our family. He'd be most displeased, in fact. You were bemoaning your lovely home and the horrible fact that you have to open your home to freaks like me, were you?" Ayame's eyes narrowed and Ritsu saw Ayame's tongue dart out of his mouth, licking his lips. "Would you like this home taken away? I promise you, there are many Souma's who would love to have this for a home and they'd probably do a far better job at upkeep than you do."  
  
Ayame slid passed Ritsu's father and came to stand by Ritsu's mommy. He smiled down, now his smile much warmer. "What are you doing on the floor, auntie? You'll get your lovely dress all dirty down there." He offered a pale hand to her and Ritsu's mommy took it gratefully, though she kept her hand firmly on Ritsu's. Ayame's smile only grew brighter when he looked at Ritsu. "Would you like to go for a walk with me, Rit-chan? I thought it would be nice to spend the day in the garden. How about you, auntie? Won't you come with us?"  
  
Ritsu's mommy nodded and she pulled Ritsu up into her arms where he promptly turned into a small monkey and clutched onto her eagerly. As they were walking out, Ayame paused and smirked at Ritsu's father.  
  
"Remember, you married into this family. It would be just as easy to have you removed from the family."  
  
Ritsu's father spluttered. "You can't!"  
  
"Me? You're right, I can't. Akito, however, can and he will." His smirk turned into a hissed threat. "Don't you ever, EVER, dare to threaten one of us again! I'll make sure you're permanently out of our family." Ayame opened his mouth a little wider, just enough for Ritsu to see a pair of tiny fangs in Ayame's mouth. "You'll wish Akito forced you into a divorce when I've finished with you!"  
  
Ayame stared at Ayame for the longest time. Ayame seemed, forever after, to be the strongest, bravest person in the whole world.  
  
End flashback-  
  
It was no surprise to Ritsu that Ayame was so popular at the banquet. He'd arrived with Ayame and his mommy on the first day of New Year's, but not with father. Ayame said something to mommy about making father take a taxi instead of one of the family's cars.   
  
In all the time he'd been at the estate, though, Ritsu hadn't seen his father. Of course, he'd been with Ayame almost the entire time and, by now, Ristu was convinced that his father was afraid of Ayame for some reason. Maybe his father wouldn't come around if Ayame were near. Ayame had even spoken to some other boy his own age about talking to Akito about Ritsu's father, but Ritsu wasn't sure that would do any good. He'd seen Akito before and Akito didn't look very strong. How could Akito do anything to protect Ritsu?  
  
Still, for now, Ritsu just watched Ayame as he danced and spun around the room. His eyes were closed, for the most part, and he seemed to hear his own music. Sometimes his dancing would speed up and then, very suddenly, it would slow down. He never once tripped himself on the long folds of his robes. Ritsu was sure that if he were the one dancing, he'd have tripped himself and ruined the whole night for everyone.  
  
Shigure-  
  
When the banquet ended, everyone was exhausted and sweating. Shigure had never been able to figure out why it was called a banquet. They never had any food, though no one noticed until after it was all over and then they were all starved. Shigure had woken Akito just before the end of the banquet, so he could open the doors for them. It was unthinkable to take the key from Akito and just open the door themselves, it just wasn't done.  
  
So Akito, leaning on Shigure heavily after a full twenty-four hours of no food and less sleep than he was used to, unlocked the doors and let the Junikyu out. There was no great ceremony now and no crowds of family as they left the little house. This late at night, everyone was fast asleep. As he stood at the door and unlocked it, Akito's eyes went to the one figure who hadn't danced all night.  
  
"You?" Akito paused and just looked at Kureno. "What's your name? You don't live with us?" Akito sounded shocked that any of his Junikyu would live away from the family.  
  
"I live at boarding school." Kureno's voice was softer than Shigure would have thought it. He still stood with his hands together in front of him and he hadn't moved all night, except to speak with Akito just now.  
  
Akito frowned. "You're...Kureno? Yoko and Akio are your parents?"  
  
"Yes."   
  
"Then Yuki's your new brother? Your parents adopted him."  
  
Kureno never changed expression and he looked at Akito as if he simply didn't care. "I suppose so."  
  
"Aren't you pleased?" Akito seemed to be getting irritated now, even though he did unlock the door and push it open. Most of the Junikyu left, squeezing passed Akito and Shigure where they stood with Kureno. The festivities were done for another year and now everyone had to return to their normal lives, whether they wanted to or not. Yahiko left lastly, reluctant that now he had to give little Yuki to his 'new' parents, but he did as he had to.  
  
Kureno didn't answer at all this time, just cocked his head slightly to the side, as if to get a better look at Akito.  
  
"When do you go back to this school of yours?" Akito demanded and Shigure felt Akito's grip of his arm tighten. Akito would often get irritable when people didn't react the way he expected them to.  
  
"I leave as soon as possible." Kureno answered blandly. "I will say good-bye to my parents, I suppose, first. There's no reason for me to stay."  
  
"No!" Akito burst out. "I want you to stay. It's late, so you should stay another day or so."  
  
"Mother doesn't wish me to stay." Kureno objected.  
  
Akito bristled. "I am head of this family, not your mother! You'll do as I say and you'll stay till tomorrow! After that, you can go."  
  
Kureno tensed at Akito's words, but merely nodded before he turned and walked out, too.  
  
"How strange." Shigure muttered when he and Akito were the last ones in the house. "You know he didn't dance at all? I don't know how he could restrain himself." Shigure knew for him that it was almost impossible to stop his feet from moving at that one time of the year.  
  
The next day-  
  
Akito-  
  
Yahiko and Akito sat down to have tea together, the day after the banquet, when it happened. Both of them were still tired from the night before and Akito was so tired he felt that he could just lay down and die if only he could stop himself from being so tired. Even Yahiko had dark circles under his eyes and his smile was a little weaker than it normally was.  
  
"Did they tell you that Kenji died?" Akito asked when Yahiko started drinking his tea.  
  
"Yes. I was at the funeral, and I managed to sneak Yuki out of the hospital, but we couldn't stay long enough to talk." Yahiko sighed sadly at the lose of his dear friend. "It was so sudden. It's hard to believe Kenji would kill himself." Kenji had been the hare and his death had been more than surprising, it had taken the family completely by storm. Kenji had always seemed to be very happy and yet he had been found dead only a few weeks ago from an overdose of sleeping drugs. "Tell me, Akito-sama, how do you like living with Ren?"  
  
The question surprised Akito and he had to think about it. No one had ever asked him before. "Not much. She yells at me one moment and then she acts like she loves me. I don't understand her and I don't know when she's telling the truth."  
  
"Does she hurt you at all?"  
  
Akito didn't answer. He didn't want to lie to Yahiko, but Ren had always told him not to tell. If he told, she was going to hurt his family.  
  
"I see." Yahiko looked angry all of a sudden. "Don't worry, I'll..." Yahiko stopped all of a sudden and his eyes went very wide.  
  
"Yahiko?" Akito frowned at him. "What's wrong?"  
  
Yahiko dropped his teacup and it shattered on the tabletop as Yahiko put a hand up to his throat. His face was turning a funny color and he gasped for air, sucking it in greedily.  
  
"Yahiko? What's wrong?" Akito was becoming more and more frightened when Yahiko didn't answer and his face started to turn blue, then purple. Yahiko tried to stand, but he fell to his knees and put both hands to his throat even as he tried desperately to suck in air.  
  
Then, with what seemed like terribly finality, Yahiko stopped struggling. The light in Yahiko's eyes began to dim as he slumped to the floor, holding himself up with one hand. "A-Akito..." Yahiko's voice was breathy and strained as he focused his pain filled eyes on Akito. He reached out to Akito with a shaking hand, as if he expected some kind of help. Then Yahiko collapsed, falling heavily onto the table, his eyes still staring straight ahead.  
  
For a long moment, Akito stared at the corpse on his table, unable to move. No one had ever died right in front of him. 'He died? Like...just like Junko and Sho. Why? Shigure said old people died and sick people died. Everyone was afraid Yuki was going to die 'cause he was sick. Yuki and Ayame's mother died because she lost blood and was hurt when Yuki was born, that's what Shigure said.' Akito leaned forward, over the table and reached out slowly to Yahiko. Yahiko's hair had fallen over his face. 'He wanted help.' Akito poked at Yahiko's head, hoping that Yahiko would move, but the older man stayed still. 'He's really dead.' Akito pulled his hand away from Yahiko and swallowed hard. What was he supposed to do?  
  
"Ren!" Akito yelled as loud as he could for the only person he knew was in the house. "Ren! Help me!"  
  
Ren looked around for a moment and rolled her eye and Akito was thankful, for once, that Ren had probably been waiting outside the door. The moment Ren laid eyes on the dead Yahiko, she rolled her eyes and threw up her arms in disgust. "Oh, Akito-sama! How could you!" She sighed and shook her head. "Can't I leave you alone for a moment without you breaking your toys?"  
  
Akito blinked passed his tears and looked up at Ren. "W-what? I...I didn't hurt him."  
  
"Of course you did." Ren strode up to the table Akito and Yahiko had been sitting at. She raised the hem of her skirt slightly and nudged Ren's body with her toe, causing him to fall over and hit the floor with a thud. "Honestly!" Ren rolled her eyes again, but paid the corpse little attention. "Akito-sama, you must be more careful. Why did you kill him?"  
  
A cold feeling of horror spread over Akito. "I didn't! We were just drinking and he...he started to choke, I think."  
  
"Choke?" Ren gave a rueful laugh. "No one can choke on tea, Akito-sama. You must have killed him. If you didn't, then who did? You were alone in here, weren't you?"  
  
"Y-yes." But Akito was sure he didn't kill Yahiko. Why would he? He liked Yahiko. "But I didn't do anything! He just died."  
  
"No one just dies. There's always a reason. Why did you do it? Were you angry with him?" When Akito couldn't answer, Ren just shrugged. "Oh, well. Next time, be more careful. It'll take ages for the cow to be reborn and now I'll have to listen to your other pets mope and complain." She turned and started to walk out of the room, leaving Akito alone with Yahiko's cooling body. "You're grounded until you can learn to play nice with your pets. You'll stay here until I think you've learned your lesson." Ren turned to leave the room, leaving Akito alone with Yahiko's body.  
  
As much as he hated to do it, Akito looked up at Ren desperately. "Don't leave me!" He cried. "Don't leave me alone!"  
  
Ren didn't reply as she slid closed the door and Akito heard an audible click as she locked the door behind her. Akito wanted to scream and cry, but he'd still be alone with Yahiko's body. With trembling legs, Akito stood and walked as far away from Yahiko's body as he could, until he backed into a wall. 'What if I did do it? What if Ren's right?' Akito wrapped his arms around himself. 'I didn't mean it. I love them all, I'd never hurt my family, never. But, what if...?' Akito turned, just then, and he saw Shigure walking with Ayame and Hatori, with little Ritsu trailing behind Ayame. Akito ran to the window. With his hands clenched on the window sill, Akito opened his mouth to shout to Shigure for help.  
  
Not a sound came out of his mouth.   
  
Akito watched silently as Shigure continued walking, laughing and chatting with Ayame and Hatori about something. He watched until they all turned a corner and vanished from his sight. 'What if Ren was right about Shigure, too? If I call Shigure to help me and Ren tells him I killed Yahiko...Shigure's going to break his promise. He'll leave me. He promised he'd always come if I need him, but he really liked Yahiko.' Akito let his frightened eyes drift over to the corpse, still laying on the floor of his bedroom. 'Shigure will hate me. He'll run away and he'll never come back.'  
  
Shaking at the terrifying thought of losing Shigure, Akito put his back to the wall and slowly slid down to the floor, wrapping his arms around his knees. 'What do I do?' He couldn't take his eyes off Yahiko. 'What...' Akito's head suddenly felt very strange, like it was filled with cotton, and his vision blurred. 'What do I do?' Akito's vision very suddenly went black and he felt a distant pain in his head as he hit the floor, suffering the first seizure of his life. 'I'm so afraid.'  
  
  
  
Ren-  
  
Ren walked out of Akito's room with a satisfied smile on her face and her hand in her pocket. She rubbed her thumb over the small, now empty, glass vial in her pocket and couldn't help but give a little chuckle. The cow wouldn't be bothering her plans anymore, a little poison slipped into his tea had assured that.  
  
Locking little Akito in the room with Yahiko was a last minute thought, though. She hadn't planned on it, but it had seemed so perfect. At the rate she was going, Ren would be able to have Akito committed to an insane asylum in just a few years. After all, every head of the Souma family always went mad, so she was just hurrying things up a bit.  
  
It would be only sensible for her to be the head of the family when Akito was gone. She had been in control of the family for years now and their wealth had only grown under her careful watch. Of course, she wasn't about to do anything so stupid as give up her life for the Junikyu. No...they could die. She just wanted the power of the family. 'Then, I'll have it all for myself. All the money, all the land, all the power. All mine.'  
  
To be continued...  
  
Isn't it fun to torture Akito? :)  
  
By the way, I know I messed up Kureno's age a bit, but he needed to be this old. Trust me.  
  
Someone told me that Ritsu was their favorite character so I thought I'd put a bit for him in.   
  
As always, I hope you all enjoyed the fic.  
  
Till next time. 


	7. A Weed in my Garden

Petshop of Horrors X-over Fruits Basket   
  
Fruits Basket and Petshop of Horrors do not belong to me. I wish. If they did, I'd have Leon and D... nevermind. I'll keep this relatively clean for any innocents who might be reading.  
  
This chapter's a tiny bit gory, so be warned.   
  
Those of you who don't like Ren might like this chapter. I hope so.  
  
Long Denied  
  
Chapter 7: A Weed in My Garden  
  
  
  
Akito-  
  
The nightmare he had was vague and indistinct, like fog that kept circling around him. It was a terrifying fog, but Akito couldn't say why, exactly. There was something hidden just beyond his sight in that terrible fog, something that would hurt him and make him cry. It lurked out there, watching him and waiting while Akito was helpless to do anything but stand there and wait for it to claim him.  
  
"Akito." The voice came to him from beyond the fog and Akito tried to focus on it. The voice sounded familiar and comforting. Most children had a special stuffed toy or worn old blanket that gave them comfort, but not Akito. He, instead, fixated on voices and smells. "Akito, can you hear me?" There was a faint smell that was growing stronger and stronger, something concrete that Akito could grab a hold of in the midst of his nightmare. The smell of peppermint. Yes, that scent matched so well with Hatori's voice.  
  
Akito wanted to yell that he could hear Hatori, but his mouth couldn't move. He couldn't even blink to shut out the terrible fog, let alone run to Hatori's voice or answer it. Thankfully, whatever was in the fog didn't like the voice that called out for Akito. It whirled angrily around for a moment before vanishing.  
  
The nightmare ended.  
  
"Akito?" Akito woke to Hatori looking down at him. "Akito? How are you feeling?" Hatori's narrow eyes looked down at him with concern. "No, don't try to get up. You've taken an awful fall. You hit your head on the floor, but I think you'll be all right."  
  
Akito said nothing, but he let Hatori press a cold cloth onto his forehead. Hatori always smelled like peppermint. As he lay there and let Hatori take care of him, Akito's mind went back to what his last memory, Yahiko. "Yahiko..."  
  
"He died." Hatori replied coolly. There was little emotion on his face as he said that, but Akito was used to that with Hatori. Hatori was always so cold and distant. Then, Hatori's eyes softened slightly. "Ren's not here. Euiko and Sho are having a 'talk' with her. Shigure found you, he was just walking by when he looked in your window and saw everything, but the door was locked. He had to climb in the window to get to you and Yahiko." Hatori's hands were soft when they took Akito's hand. "How are you feeling?" It was a seriously asked question, but asked in such an awkward way. Hatori wasn't used to being so...personal.  
  
"My head hurts." The nightmare had been real, Akito realized just at that moment. There was something within the tormenting fog that was coming for him. It was the same thing that had come to claim Yahiko. Death. It was coming and it wouldn't stop until it had every member of his family. One-by-one, Akito was going to lose them all.  
  
"That's expected. You have a big lump. Anything else?"  
  
Akito thought for a moment. How did he really feel? Did he want Hatori to know how afraid he was? That fear was simmering quietly inside him? No. He was the head of the family, he was supposed to be strong. It was his job to take care of everyone and keep them safe. Shigure had once told Akito that when Hatori was younger, he was very sad. He'd been so sad that he made those awful scars on his arms and tried to kill himself. Akito looked at Hatori's hand that still held his. He traced his fingers up Hatori's wrist and skimmed the tips of his fingers over the lumpy scars. 'I have to protect them. I can't let anything hurt them. Not even death.' Akito's mind went back to Yahiko reaching out to him as he died, as if Akito could do something special to save him. 'I should have been able to do something. I'm God. God can do anything, so why couldn't I save Yahiko?'  
  
"You're crying."  
  
Akito looked sharply up at Hatori's unusually compassionate words and wiped the tears away, quickly. He didn't want Hatori to think that he was weak, after all. Hatori said nothing more about the tears and simply sat there watching Akito. Hatori waited longer than anyone else would have, he was amazingly patient, waiting for Akito's answer. Hatori could and would wait forever until the other person came to him.   
  
"I'm okay." Akito said at last. It was a lie.  
  
Hatori's expression didn't change, but he said, "You shouldn't lie to me, Akito. I can tell when you do. Shigure tries to lie all the time, but it's a bad habit. Having someone die in front of you is hard and scary. My dad died right in front of me, so I kind of know how you feel."  
  
"Only kind of?" Akito asked, still following the scars on Hatori's wrists with his fingers. As Hatori had been speaking, Akito let his eyes slide around. He was still in his bedroom, but Yahiko was gone and he realized that someone must have removed him. That meant there would have to be another funeral. Akito swallowed hard. There seemed to be an awful lot of funerals lately.  
  
"You liked Yahiko. I didn't like my dad." It was a simple answer and yet it was exactly the sort of thing one should expect from Hatori. He didn't go into details much, didn't see the use of it.  
  
"Where's Shigure?"  
  
"He's spying on Ren. I think he's a bit upset."   
  
It was more than Akito had expected Hatori to say, but not enough. He was happy enough to know that Shigure was angry with Ren, but he wanted to know exactly what was going on. Were they going to make Ren go away? How could they, she was family. Was Ren going to hurt everyone?  
  
"You must try to keep warm, Akito." Hatori said, as he pulled up the blankets closer to Akito's chin. "This cold weather really isn't good for you, so you mustn't ask for the windows to be opened again. It might have been that which helped bring on your seizure, along with the shock."  
  
"Seizure?"  
  
Hatori didn't answer for a moment, it looked like he was thinking about his answer. "Your body...stopped working right. Just for a minute, but that's all it takes. Seizures are dangerous, so you'll have to be extra careful to take care of yourself from now on."  
  
"I want to talk to Shigure." Akito replied. He loved Hatori, that was natural, but he didn't know Hatori as well as he knew Shigure. Shigure was always there, always around, but Hatori only came to the house when he had to or when Shigure brought him for some reason. If Akito was going to burst into tears, as he so desperately wanted to, it was going to be with Shigure. He didn't want Hatori to know how deeply Yahiko's death hurt.  
  
Hatori nodded and left without another word, supposedly to find Shigure.  
  
After Hatori had left, Akito turned to look out his window and he saw Kureno. It seemed odd to see Kureno no longer dressed in the fancy robes Akito had seen him in only the previous night. Instead, Kureno had on very plain brown trousers and a brown shirt. He looked like any other boy Akito had ever seen, except that there was something strange in the way he walked.  
  
'I wanted to talk to him!' Akito suddenly thought, sitting up. He watched at Kureno slowly made his way to the front gate of the estate. 'I told him I wanted to talk to him and now he's leaving?'   
  
Without a thought to his health, only that he felt somehow insulted that Kureno hadn't listened to him, Akito stepped out of bed. He knew that he'd have to be fast. Akito put on his warmest clothes, mindful of what Hatori had said about keeping warm. Unfortunately, since he rarely went out, Akito didn't have much warm to wear. He put on his slippers and his heaviest robes, but that was all he had. Ren had never bought him a pair of real shoes, since he was so rarely allowed outside and almost never in the winter.   
  
At first, as he went to go after Kureno, Akito went to the door of his room, but came to a sudden stop when he thought better of it. Someone would probably be outside until either Shigure or Ren got back. They wouldn't let him go after Kureno.  
  
'But I'm the head of the family!' Akito thought to himself. 'I can do what I please.' He stood there for a moment, tapping his foot irritably on the floor. 'I don't have to ask for permission to go outside. Ren's not here to stop me.' It was then that Akito looked out the window just in time to see Kureno walk around the corner of a house and vanish from sight. 'He said he was going back to that boarding school today. If I don't catch him soon, he'll leave and I won't see him until next year.' Akito rushed up to the window and peered outside, his hands pressed against the cold glass. Then, it hit him. 'Shigure climbs in and out of windows.' A smile spread across Akito's face as he pulled the window open and was hit in the face with a cold blast of air.  
  
Akito climbed out the window and landed in the bushes just below his window. It wasn't a long fall, but he felt a very pleasant buzz with the fact that he'd just done something he wasn't supposed to do and no one had yet yelled at him for it. 'See, I'm not weak. I can do anything Shigure can do.'  
  
So Akito took off after Kureno, hoping that no one would see him and make him go back to bed. He followed Kureno at a distance until the rooster came to the gates of the estate and walked out without hesitation. Akito, panting for breath after running half-way across the estate, did stop at the still open gates. He'd never been outside before and it suddenly seemed terrifyingly close.  
  
Outside the gates, Akito saw everything that Shigure had ever told him about. He saw cars buzzing down the street faster than he'd ever seen them before. In the estate they only went very slowly. There were so many people walking down the sidewalks and noise...there was so much noise! Noise from cars and people talking. No one even bothered to glance at Akito as he stood in the gateway and stared out with wide, disbelieving eyes. He balked. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.  
  
Akito almost lost his courage. There was just so much that was...different. It was nothing like the peaceful life inside the walls of the estate. 'I never knew all this was out here.' Akito thought in wonderment. He bit his lip, wondering if he were doing the smart thing, when he heard someone, it sounded like Shigure, call his name from behind. They'd already started looking for him.  
  
With determination, Akito stepped over the threshold of the main gates and, for the first time, went into the world. He didn't give himself time to be afraid, just ran as fast as he could after where he'd seen Kureno go. Akito ran and ran, pausing only to work out how to cross the frightening street. It hadn't taken him long to figure out that everyone crossed the street in a group at the flashing lights that stood on almost every street corner. Cautiously, Akito approached one of the small groups of people and stood nearby. They all watched the light on the opposite corner, waiting impatiently with a lot of grumbling and Akito wondered what they were waiting for. Walking willingly into the busy street wasn't something Akito really wanted to do, but he could still see Kureno walking away, down the opposite side of the street.   
  
'At this rate, I'll never catch him.' Akito thought, trying to keep his eyes on Kureno, even as the older boy began to fade into the growing crowds of people. The day was wearing on and the sidewalks were beginning to fill up and Akito's anxiety was starting to mount. He was still close enough to go home, back to the estate. All he'd have to do was turn around, he wouldn't have to risk the busy street and he could let Kureno go on his way undisturbed.  
  
"Come on, kid." A voice at Akito's side drew his attention and he looked up to find some middle-aged man smiling down at him. "It's time to cross. Ya don't want to have to wait for the light again, do ya?" He gave Akito a prod in the back to get him moving and Akito did as he was told, shocked. Few people dared to touch him so casually. Akito suddenly realized he was no long at the edge of the group of people waiting to cross the street, he had somehow gotten right in the middle of them all and was being pushed along with them as they crossed the street. The big man who'd spoken to Akito smiled down at him again as they calmly walked to the middle of the street and Akito felt his heart start to beat faster and faster.  
  
'Those cars,' His eyes went to the paused cars which, Akito hoped, would wait until they'd crossed before they started moving again. 'Those cars could start moving again any time.' Akito didn't want to go out into that street, but when he tried to escape the middle aged man grabbed his shoulder in an almost painful grip.   
  
"Where do you think ya going, son?" The man asked, sounding angry. "Ya can't go running off into the traffic like that, ya'll get yourself killed!" With his hand still on Akito's shoulder, the older man steered Akito to the other side of the street and then stopped and looked down at him when they were safely on the sidewalk. "What were ya thinking? Don't ya know ya'd get run over when the lights changed?" In the street, the cars roared to life again and sped off to wherever they were headed.  
  
"Run over?" Akito repeated, sounding stupid, even to himself, as he watched the cars.  
  
"Yes, run over. Did ya want to be killed?" He frowned and Akito shrank away from the man who looked at him closely.   
  
Akito shook his head slowly, he was used to being scrutinized, but not by strangers. This man was, in fact, the first stranger who'd ever spoken to him. Normally, Ren would speak with visitors to the estate. "Of course not." Akito tried to keep his voice as steady as possible, but how could he when he was so afraid? All he'd wanted to do was talk with Kureno for a few minutes and now here was a stranger and he wasn't sure he'd be able to find Kureno again and now he was starting to get cold.  
  
The man must have seen Akito pull his robes a little closer to himself, because he asked, "What's wrong, kid? You cold?" He shook his head and smiled bitterly. "That'll teach ya to go out without a coat on, huh? Your ma's gonna be mad when ya go home with a cold." With that, the man slipped his coat off and hung it on Akito's shoulders. "You're a little bit of a thing, aren't ya? Look at ya, yer turning blue with cold. Where do ya live, kid? I'll take ya home."  
  
Akito opened his mouth to answer, but just then, he saw Kureno, again. Kureno turned another corner and disappeared again. "Kureno!" Akito yelled, desperately. "Kureno, wait!" Without further thought to the man or his question, Akito let the coat fall off his shoulders and started running down the crowded street to where he'd last seen Kureno.  
  
"Kid!" The man shouted, but he was to late to catch Akito and Akito didn't want to hear him, anyway. He had to get to Kureno. Part of Akito told him that it was because he was now further from home than he'd ever dared to go and he was afraid. If he could just get to Kureno, Kureno could take him back to the estate. That quiet, silken voice, though, whispered traitorously,  
  
(Don't let him get away. He practically ignored you at the banquet and then tried to sneak away when you were asleep. Don't let him run away. Make him come back. If you let him go now, he'll never come back.)  
  
Akito tried to shake off the voice, but it kept whispering to him as he ran down the sidewalk. It wasn't long before Akito's breath was coming in rasping gasps and he had to slow down. He wasn't used to running at all and the cold was starting to feel as if it were seeping into his bones. No matter how much Akito yelled for Kureno to stop, the older boy just kept walking as if he didn't hear. Akito was soon reduced to staggering after Kureno with his arms wrapped around himself for warmth. His chest hurt and his head was starting to feel strange again.   
  
'My pills. I didn't take my pills when Hatori woke me up.' The thought drifted across Akito's mind and it was enough to make him slow down his pursuit. How many hours had he been asleep? He was supposed to take the pills every few hours and he hadn't taken them during the banquet, it was against tradition to do so. 'Maybe I should go home, now.' Akito rarely went without his pills and he wasn't quite sure what would happen to him without them. Everyone always said that the pills would help keep Akito healthy, but no one ever told him how sick he would get without them. Maybe this was it, the running out of breath and strange feeling in his head. 'I...I should go home. I have to get the pills.' It was only then that Akito turned to go back to the estate did he notice his surroundings.  
  
The buildings were dark and there weren't nearly so many people around. In fact, the street was practically deserted. The buildings were tall, but looked run down and there was quite a bit of rubbish in the street. Akito walked back a ways, but he realized, after a very short time, that he had no idea of where he was. If he didn't know where he was, how would he get home?  
  
(Stupid boy. Ren was right, you're not smart enough to be let out alone. You should have a keeper, someone to keep you out of trouble. Never should have left the safety of the estate, huh, idiot?) The whispered voice mocked as Akito stood alone on the now quiet sidewalk and tried to think of what he should do.   
  
He didn't know where he was, how to get home, or how to find help. So Akito, as any seven-year-old would do, sat down on the sidewalk and burst into tears.  
  
He had never felt so completely helpless in all his life. There was no chance of Shigure popping out of nowhere to help him now. He was completely alone. With his hands pressed over his eyes and bawling hysterically, Akito didn't see the man walk up behind him.  
  
"Are you lost?"  
  
Akito looked up sharply at the new voice and wiped the tears off his face. The man looked very...ordinary. He wore a white T-shirt and had short cut hair. There was, in fact, nothing remarkable about him at all. He wasn't very short, nor was he tall. He wasn't fat, nor was he thin. The man smiled, and Akito didn't like the smile.   
  
"Poor lost lamb." The man chuckled as he crouched down next to Akito.   
  
'Lamb? I'm not the lamb, I'm god.' That was what everyone told him, anyway. Akito wiped his eyes with one of his sleeves and wondered if he should say anything to the man. "I need to get home."  
  
"Yes, I expect you do." The man reached out and rubbed a hand down the length of Akito's arm. "Such a fine fabric, you look like you wandered into the wrong part of town. You'd be from the better part of the city, wouldn't you? It's a pity, a pretty little thing like you being out in this part of town. It's dangerous out here, you know." He smiled again and his hand tightened slight on Akito's frail wrist. "You shouldn't be alone. I'll take care of you."  
  
Akito moved his arm away from the man's offensive touch. Akito was normally a very tactile person. He liked touching and being touched. It always made him feel better to have a friendly hand to hold or just having someone sit next to him. Usually, those things came from Shigure. However, Akito didn't want this man touching him. This man was a stranger and there was something frightening about his smile.   
  
"Get away from him." A soft voice spoke just loudly enough to be heard.   
  
Akito and the strange man turned and there was Kureno standing with his arms hanging loosely at his sides. His black eyes were narrowed as he looked at the man in what was almost a glare. Again, Akito found himself staring at Kureno. Just the way he stood seemed strange, tense almost. Kureno's hair wasn't as long as even Shigure's, let alone Ayame's, and it was very fair. His hair was somewhere between gold and red, a trait that only served to make his black eyes stand out even more prominently.   
  
"What's he to you?" The man demanded, defensively, as he stood to face Kureno. It was as if he thought he had some kind of claim on Akito and needed to assert that claim. "I found him first."  
  
It was absurd, of course. There was no one who could claim Akito. It was Akito who owned people, not the other way around. Akito wrinkled his nose at the stranger, but the stranger wasn't watching Akito. Instead, the stranger kept his eyes on Kureno and tensed up when Kureno started walking closer.  
  
Kureno walked up to the man and stared up at him without an ounce of fear. "He's my lover."  
  
Akito wasn't sure what a lover was, but he had some idea that it was a very close friend. He'd overheard people talking about such things and he knew, for example, that Kureno's mom and Ritsu's father were lovers. Akito just stared at Kureno, wondering why Kureno was telling such a blatant lie. He hardly knew Kureno, so how could they be such good friends?  
  
The other man opened his mouth to say something, but Kureno stopped him by simply reaching to his belt. "Are you sure you want to fight me for him? I've seen you in the audience at the Pit. You know what I can do."  
  
"The Pit? So...you really are Kureno. I thought you looked familiar. You can have him." The man paled as he spoke, but without another word as he turned and walked away.   
  
Kureno-  
  
Of course it was a lie. Kureno had never had a lover in his entire life and he had no intention of taking one any time soon, let alone a child like Akito. Heck, Kureno was only twelve himself, he had no interest in sex and didn't know why the older boys seemed to obsessed with it. It was a necessary lie, though, and the fasted way to get rid of Takeo. Kureno knew that the people who hung around this part of the city would believe the lie and no one who knew Kureno's reputation would be stupid enough to interfere with Kureno if he claimed someone.   
  
It wasn't uncommon for the children of the Pits to have lovers, even at their young ages. Many of the children who weren't strong enough to fight were used as sex toys for the patrons who wanted more than a show. Many of the children, as they grew up into teenagers, grew accustomed to sex and saw nothing wrong with indulging in it, though that often had disastrous consequences. Kureno had once known a little girl who was barely ten who'd had an abortion, thought it wasn't of her own choice. She probably would have died in childbirth if she hadn't had the abortion as Kureno was perfectly aware that the owners would never allow the girl to be taken to the hospital. It would raise to many questions when the doctors started asking why a ten-year-old had gotten pregnant.   
  
She had died during the abortion when a man who claimed to be a doctor was hired to do it. Kureno had watched, in fact, as the man went into the frightened girl's room and he'd listened to her terrified screaming for what seemed like a very long time. Then, very suddenly, the screaming stopped. The man came out, taking blood soaked gloves off, but said not a word to the dozens of children who waited outside the girl's room. The girl never came out.  
  
Kureno tried not to think about that girl. It had been almost a year ago and it would only hurt to think about her now. Yukina...that was her name. Yukina had been weak. In the Pits, the weak were prey and the strong were the predators. That was why she'd died. Yukina had been given the choice to either fight and possibly die in the arena or be a toy for the owner to hand out as he pleased. She chose to be a toy. It must have seemed safer, at the time.  
  
Kureno was neither weak nor strong, at least, not in his own opinion. He was simply a survivor.  
  
Takeo, the man Kureno had seen with Akito, was a predator and, apparently, he'd seen Akito as the perfect prey.  
  
Why Akito was sitting on the sidewalk in the slums, Kureno had no idea. It was bad enough that the head of the family was here at all, but the fact that he was alone and looked so vulnerable, Kureno knew he couldn't just leave Akito out here alone. Akito looked so pitiful as he sat there shivering and with reddened, puffy eyes and his skin turning terribly pale. He was a perfect target for any number of thieves and pickpockets who lurked out here.  
  
With a sigh, Kureno held out his hand to Akito. "You should come with me." He wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with Akito, but he couldn't just leave him out here.  
  
"Where?" Akito asked as he took the hand without hesitation and Kureno was shocked at the unquestioning trust. Would Akito have taken the hand of just anyone who offered it to him? Would he have gone with Takeo, the man he'd seen pawing at Akito only moments ago? Of course Kureno knew Takeo. Takeo was a regular patron at the Pits, a man notorious for his preference of little children to people his own age. Little Akito must have seemed like a tempting target, just sitting there so pathetically.  
  
"I have to go somewhere and I can't be late. I'll get in trouble if I'm late. I don't have time to take you back to the estate, so you'll have to come with me for a while." Kureno told him. "I'll give someone a call at the estate to come and get you." Kureno couldn't help but feel awkward as they walked hand-in-hand together further into the depths of the city, a place most people with sense didn't go. There were few police officers brave enough to dare walking a beat down here, though there were a few who had earned themselves punishments and had been sent down to this part of the city to serve out that punishment.   
  
They walked in silence for a long while, passing by buildings that were, by now, very familiar to Kureno. He'd lived here for many years now. So long that he wasn't in any danger by walking down these streets and alleys. He knew where the gangs held their regular meetings and the popular hang-out spots for the drug dealers. He knew which prostitutes were harmless and which were sharks with lipstick. He knew which pimps carried guns and which had knives.  
  
"I wanna go home, Kureno." Akito muttered, keeping his small, cold hand nearly glued to Kureno's. "I don't like this place."  
  
"You shouldn't have come here in the first place." Kureno told him calmly. "You don't have to be afraid, I won't let you get hurt." It occurred to Kureno that his mother was going to be terribly angry when she found out that Akito had found out where he was all this time. Of course, Kureno knew his mother told everyone that he was away at boarding school. It was a lie, but one that Kureno didn't care to unveil.  
  
There was no reason to make everyone unhappy, just because his mother didn't care enough to keep him at home. He knew that his mother had adopted the new little rat, Yuki, though he wasn't sure why his mother would prefer having the rat as a son rather than the rooster. Why was Yuki so much better than Kureno? What made him more special? Perhaps it was just pity. Little Yuki didn't look as if he'd live long, so perhaps it was decided that they would spoil him for as long as he lived. Then again, maybe she would sell him into the Pits like she did Kureno. That would be a terrible thing for someone so weak as little Yuki.  
  
Kureno understood that it was better for him to be away from his mother and father. Neither cared to keep him, so he was better off keeping his life at the Pits where he knew the rules. In fact, Kureno hardly knew his family, he'd been sent away when he was very young. He could still remember the day that his mother had sold him to the man who owned the Pits and how he'd been led wordlessly away. He was old enough to understand that the money was more important to his mother than her freak son.   
  
The last thing that Kureno's mother had told him, before the stranger had taken his hand and led him away, was that he must always come back at New Years without fail. No matter where he was or what he was doing, he must return for New Years. She never wanted to see him again, but if he didn't come back for New Years, then he would be in terrible trouble. Apparently, Kureno's mother was afraid to have the family find out that she'd sold him. So far, Kureno had obeyed that order, though it wasn't because his mother had told him to. He was drawn back to the estate, back to Akito, at New Years, though he couldn't explain why.  
  
The Pits.  
  
It was an appropriate name. A large building, bigger than most warehouses, with a huge room in the center of the building that was built like an arena. There was nothing about the building that made it look like anything other than an old warehouse, but Kureno knew better. This place had been his home for several years now, after all. Outside the building, the only thing that marked it as out of place was the unusual amount of young people. Boys and girls from the ages of about seven up to teen-agers; all of them hung around the building and Kureno knew there would be more of them inside.  
  
As Kureno approached, the subdued talking and occasional laughter died away to be replaced by an ominous silence and Kureno distantly wondered what Akito thought of it. Not that it mattered. What Akito thought about all this wouldn't change anything. They all disliked Kureno or were afraid of him. He was to good, to untouchable. Kureno had a reputation that not a single person could rival and they hated him for being so good.  
  
Kureno led Akito into the warehouse and into one of the dimly lit hallways. The further into the warehouse they went, the closer Akito tried to press himself into Kureno's side. "Where...where are we?" Akito asked, looking around at the shadowy place and Kureno knew it must be frightening for Akito who, supposedly, never left the estate.  
  
"This is the Pits." No one questioned them, not that Kureno had expected them to. There were occasional adults here and there, the people who saw to it that the children were fed and relatively healthy. Most of the time, their job was to keep outsiders, like Akito, out of the Pits. But, seeing as Kureno had a firm grip on Akito's hand, no one looked twice at them. It was one of the perks to being the best. Who he chose to bring to his 'room' was his own business. "I live here." Kureno said. "In here." He stopped and opened a door to show Akito into his room.   
  
Room was a generous word to use, though it was better than what most of the other children had. He'd earned his privileges and this room was one of them. All of the rest of the children were allotted even smaller spaces to sleep in with little or no privacy. Most of them slept two or three to a room that was little more than a glorified closet and the only place to wash was a communal shower that was shared by girls and boys alike. Kureno had to share that shower, too, he couldn't escape that indignity, but he did have the luxury of having a room to him self.  
  
Kureno's room was big enough for a single cot, but it had little else. Kureno needed nothing else, after all. On the bed, Kureno had put his regular clothes, the ones he wore when he was fighting in the arena, and an extra T-shirt. They were his only clothes. The nice clothes he wore to the estate were only for when he had to go to the estate, there was no point in wearing them around here.   
  
Akito closed the door behind them and took Akito to the bed. "Sit down and rest." Without waiting to see if Akito did as he was told, Kureno started to change his clothes. Modesty was something he'd long ago learned to live without. So having Akito see him without clothes didn't bother him. He had to get out of his good clothes and into something more practical. He'd only barely made it back to the Pit in time for his match, thanks to Akito wanting him to stay the night at the estate, and now he'd have little time to waste. When he was finished changing clothes, Kureno carefully folded his good clothes and slid them under the cot where they'd be safe. "I'll go call someone from the estate to come get you." He was going to leave, but Akito looked at him pitifully and shivered.   
  
"Don't leave me." Akito's face was, as usual, pale and his dark eyes were very wide, shining as if he would burst into tears at any moment. "I don't feel good, Kureno. I forgot to take my pills today." He wrapped his thin arms around himself. "Please, don't leave me."  
  
So, Kureno sighed and sat on the bed next to Akito. There was really nothing he could do to help Akito now. He couldn't go back to the estate for the pills, he was supposed to fight soon. He didn't even know what kind of pills Akito was taking to keep him healthy. Kureno pulled up the blanket on his bed, badly in need of a wash, and covered Akito's shoulders with it. "The heating isn't working today, but I'll try to get you warmed up, if I can."  
  
They sat together, on Kureno's bed, leaning back against the cement wall. After a few moments, Akito ended up cuddling against Kureno's side as if it were the most natural thing in the world.   
  
"You shouldn't be here." Kureno whispered, yet again. "It's dangerous." He was more than a little disturbed at being so close to another person. Kureno had spent a good deal of his life trying to keep people away, but Akito wasn't going to have any part of that. In the end, Kureno leaned back and relaxed as best as he could and they sat in silence for a while. He knew, of course, that Akito was god. He wasn't sure how or why, but he'd been taught the same legend as the rest of the Junikyu. He wondered if the black robed priests had ever cuddled against their god like this. He wondered if anyone else in the world was able to feel their god's cold skin or the beat of his heart against their hand.  
  
When Akito spoke, his voice was strangely distant. "I'll be all right. I'm just tired and I get dizzy. Shigure tells me all about the outside world, but he's never told me about anything like this."  
  
"Shigure doesn't live in my world. It's different here." But Kureno didn't want to go into details. He knew Akito wouldn't understand, even if he had tried to explain.   
  
"Why? Why are you here?" Akito asked. He looked around at the dingy walls and picked at the grimy blanket. "Why don't you live at the estate, like everyone else?"  
  
Kureno didn't answer. There was no point in upsetting Akito with the truth. Instead, Kureno shifted slightly so he could hold Akito closer. At least the small child had stopped shivering uncontrollably.  
  
"It's dirty here." Akito continued with a grimace. His nose twitched at the smell of filth Kureno had long since gotten used to. The blankets weren't washed very often and, in fact, had it not been for the Banquet, Kureno wouldn't have been allowed a bath for another four days. All the children shared communal showers, boys and girls, to save on water. "Where are we? What is this place? Your mother said you were going back to boarding school."  
  
"Yes, she did." Kureno had never been to school before. He couldn't even read.  
  
"Kureno, get ready, your on..." The man who poked his head into the tiny room saw Akito and scowled. "Who's the brat?"   
  
This man was, Chen, one of Kureno's bosses, but he wasn't the man who owned the Pit. Whoever owned the Pit and everyone in it, Kureno didn't know. He only knew the faces of the men and women who oversaw the operations of the fights and the half a dozen burly men who kept a close eye on all the children. Not that many tried to escape. Everyone knew that away from the Pits they would probably starve to death on the streets or something. All of them were orphans or abandoned and not a single one of them had any schooling, except for Ping, who went to first grade and could read a little.   
  
This would be tricky.  
  
Kureno didn't want Chen to get any ideas about Akito being available. The story about Akito being Kureno's lover was a good enough lie to tell Takeo, but Chen might spread rumors that Kureno was keeping a boy in his room. It wasn't against any kind of rules, but it might give people ideas that they could try something with Akito the minute Kureno's back was turned.  
  
"He got lost and wandered in here by accident." Kureno answered softly. "He said his uncle brought him to watch the fights, but he got separated. I was just going to try and find his uncle."  
  
"Ah. Well, get him back to the audience and then hurry. You're on in ten minutes."  
  
A few minutes later-  
  
"Whatever you do," Kureno warned as he led Akito to a front seat of the stadium. "Don't talk to anyone and don't go anywhere with anyone. If someone tries to take you away, you tell them that your full name and they'll leave you alone. The Souma name's pretty well known, even in this part of the city." The audience seats were rapidly filling up, but Kureno was lucky enough to find a spot where he could keep a relatively close eye on Akito, right in the front row. The audience's seating was raised up above the square area where the fighting would be taking place. It was done that way so all the patrons would get a better look at the fighting.   
  
That was the business of the Pit, illegal fighting.  
  
Basically, a man once bought this whole warehouse and converted it into a fighting ring. The advantage to having it in a warehouse was that he could house all his fighters, the children.  
  
Akito looked up at Kureno with wide, frightened eyes and Kureno hastened to reassure him. "I'll be right back. This won't take long." He left Akito there, trusting that his public appearance with Akito would keep him relatively safe. As soon as he found the nearest phone, Kureno dialed the number for the Main House. There was no answer, so Kureno decided he'd just take Akito home later, himself.  
  
Akito-  
  
Akito didn't like waiting for Kureno. The seat Kureno had put him in was dirty and there were to many people all around, pressing in closely. Still, he waited patiently and tried to ignore the growing noise. He hated noise. It was like static and blocked out everything. Akito swallowed hard and focused on the sandy floor of the arena in the slightly lowered fighting area. His vision was starting to go funny, and every now and again he saw double. Aside from Kureno, Akito hadn't liked anyone he'd met outside the walls of the estate. This outside world was proving to be a vast disappointment.  
  
"May I have your attention!" A voice from some person speaking into a microphone echoed through the large room and Akito tried to focus on that person, even as he covered his ears with his hands. The voice was to loud, it rang though his head painfully. His legs felt very weak, like they were filled with water instead of muscle and bone. He wasn't sure if he could stand even if he had to. "For our first match, here's our prized boy!" He swept his arm and directed everyone's attention to a door on one side of the arena. The door swung open and Kureno strode out.  
  
Akito watched as Kureno entered the arena. Kureno wore nothing but a pair of loose shorts that went all the way to his knees. He wasn't thin, but he did look wiry and Kureno was wearing those kind of white gloves with the fingers cut off. Strangely, Kureno also had something strapped to the back of his feet. They looked like two shining spikes a couple of inches long on both of his feet.   
  
As he entered the pit, Kureno stopped by a barrel of water. He dipped one hand in and brought a handful of water to his mouth, drinking the water. Then he put both hands on the sides of the barrel and dunked his head. He stayed down for a moment before he pulled his head up again and threw his hair back.  
  
"There you are, ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer nearly screamed into his microphone as Kureno took to the center of the arena. "One of our star attractions, Kureno, the Fighting Cock!"  
  
From the audience around him, Akito heard mutters of approval almost overshadowed by the hoots of laughter and the wild catcalls. Akito cringed at all the noise and, not for the first time, Akito found himself missing his silent home and his warm bed. All this noise was quickly bringing on a headache and he was confused. What was going on? Why did Kureno tell everyone he was the rooster?!  
  
"Ah, yes!" The announcer continued. "I think our little big man has a few fans, hasn't he? Kureno has never once been defeated; not even by boys twice his age and size! Come on, folks, show your support for the most feared fighter this arena has ever seen!"  
  
The cheers and hooting grew louder and louder until Akito covered his ears to block it out. Two men beside Akito, though, couldn't be blocked out.  
  
"That boy's the reason I keep coming." One man told another, almost proudly. "I've wagered on him again, but he won't make me much. He's to good, no one's stupid enough to bet against him."  
  
"So, how much did you wager on him?"  
  
"Two thousand."  
  
"That little?"  
  
"Well, like I said, no one's going to bet against him. Betting really isn't the reason I come though, though, if you know what I mean." He gave a guttural laugh and nudged the other man in the ribs. "For a twelve year old, he's got a lovely face." There was something in his voice that Akito didn't like at all.  
  
"Aren't you getting ambitious? I've heard that he won't let himself be touched, not by anyone. He's got those knives, you know."  
  
"I wouldn't want an easy lay, you know me. A boy like that doesn't need to be seduced, he needs to be just taken. He's a fighting cock? Well, I'd like to see how much fighting his cock does when I get him in my bed." The man's hands clenched on the armrests of his chair. "I'm going to buy him."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You heard me. I've been watching that boy for almost two years and he's only getting stronger. They don't put him up to fight much, because he's so good. The other kids don't want to fight him and there's little challenge in it for him. If I don't snatch him up now, someone else is going to buy him and..."  
  
That was it!  
  
Akito turned abruptly to glare at the two men. "You can't buy Kureno! He belongs to me! I won't let you have him!" It would have been much more effective if Akito could focus on the men he was trying to yell at.  
  
The men blinked at Akito, surprised. "Who the Hell are you, kid?"  
  
Akito opened his mouth to answer, but the announcer spoke again and Akito turned his attention back to the pit where Kureno was standing as still as a statue.   
  
"The challenger, Murakai!" From out of the other side of the pit, the opposite side from where Kureno had come, came a young man carrying a steel pipe about three feet long. He was a bit older than Kureno and had long hair tied into a tight braid hanging down his back. "Murakai came to us as little more than four weeks ago and since then he's worked hard for his keep. He's a tough punk, but is he ready to face the Fighting Cock? We'll see. Here we go!" A loud bell ran and both boys turned to face each other.  
  
The fight lasted only a moment, but in that moment Kureno was magnificent. To Akito's eyes, Kureno seemed to be dancing as he spun and jumped, hitting his opponent with everything he had. In the end, Murakai fell, landing face down on the sawdust floor and the audience roared with approval for Kureno. Kureno didn't pause for the adulation's, he simply turned and started to walk back to the door he'd come in through.   
  
"Winner...The Fighting Cock!"  
  
'Wow.' Akito thought, truly awed. 'He hardly even tried. I've never seen anyone fight like him.' Indeed, Akito had, a few times, watched Shigure and Ayame as they spared against each other and he'd thought they were good. Once, he'd been lucky enough to see Kuzuma fight and that was the only thing he could compare Kureno to. Akito thought that if Kuzuma and Kureno fought, despite their age differences, that they would be evenly matched.   
  
Akito's admiring thoughts were cut short when he looked over at the fallen Murakai and saw him starting to get up. There was a terrible look of fury on Murakai's face and, when Kureno's back was turned, he jumped angrily to his feet. Akito shouted a warning, but there was to much noise for his voice to be heard. Murakai grabbed the steel pipe he'd dropped during the fight and was nearly about to bash Kureno's head.   
  
To bad Kureno was faster. With a lightening fast move, Kureno spun and suddenly had a long, narrow knife buried in Murakai's stomach.   
  
Murakai stared at Kureno's blood splattered hand and then looked up to meet his eyes. There was no emotion on Kureno's face, nothing but a blank look of almost boredom. Very slowly, Murakai's hand opened and the steel pipe fell uselessly to the ground as Murakai staggered away, clutching his stomach with both hands, as if that would stop the flow of blood. He only took about two steps, a blossoming flower of blood spreading across his shirt, when Kureno savagely kicked Murakai across the throat with the back of his foot. Of course, now Akito saw the reason for those spikes on Kureno's feet. The spike slashed across Murakai's throat causing blood to erupt, splattering across Kureno's chest and face. Murakai fell instantly to the sandy floor, dead.  
  
The entire audience, for the first time, watched in stunned silence as Kureno calmly wiped the blade of his stiletto on his shorts and then slipped it down the waistband.   
  
"And that's why you all pay the big money, folks!" The announcer nearly shouted into his microphone. "No rules, only survival! Kureno's gracious enough to let most of his opponents leave alive, but if you don't stay down when he puts you down, he's not shy about spilling a little blood." His voice became almost proud. "Our Fighting Cock's taken the lives of six fighters to date, including poor Murakai, who wasn't smart enough to back down!"  
  
"You see," The man next to Akito whispered to his friend in a breathless voice. "That's why I want him. God's! I've never seen such a boy! I have to have him!"  
  
The announcer, a short, balding man with a very brightly colored shirt, walked out to the center of the pit and took Kureno by the arm before he could leave. "Before you all leave for the evening," The announcer said. "We have a special event tonight. Our little Fighting Cock will be bought tonight. One of you out there has been so impressed, that you're willing to pay a thousand for him." All around Akito heard the surprised mutters. "So, I'm afraid this is the last night we'll see the Fighting Cock in our arena, unless his new owner wishes to show him off once in a while, in which case, he's always welcomed back. The management has approved the selling of Fighting Cock, but," He paused dramatically. "We're going have an auction for him!"  
  
The man next to Akito swore vilely under his breath. "An auction? Since when did they start auctioning off the kids?"  
  
"Since this one's so popular. I think you're going to empty your checkbook for this one, everyone wants him." The man's companion told him, amused. Indeed, all around him, Akito saw people suddenly reaching for their wallets and pulling out cell phones and calling their banks.  
  
The bidding went quickly, from one thousand to ten thousand up to one hundred thousand. It seemed that there were a lot of rich people willing to spend money for Kureno. Kureno, still silent and still in the pit, with his eyes focused on his bare feet, looked pale to Akito's eyes. He made no sign of being happy or unhappy about what was happening to him, but Akito felt such black rage.  
  
"One million!" Akito shouted as loudly as he could. Again, the whole audience went silent. Then, the laughter started and Akito felt his cheeks flush. "Does anyone beat my offer?"  
  
"Boy," The announcer said with a soft chuckle at Akito's expense. "How do you intend to pay?"  
  
"I am Souma Akito, head of the Souma House. I assure you I have more than enough to pay for him." How dare anyone try to buy what belonged to Akito?! The only place Kureno should be going was home, back to the estate. "You'll have your money as soon as the banks open. Kureno's going home with me!"  
  
In the arena, Kureno slowly looked up and he met Akito's eyes with an expression Akito was almost shocked to see. For just a moment, Kureno wasn't the strong savior who'd rescued Akito from the frightening streets or the stotic boy who had been so stone still at the New Year's Banquet. Instead, Kureno's eyes were wide with disbelief. He stared up at Akito with something akin to the worship.  
  
Akito smiled.  
  
That was how all the Junikyu looked at Akito, with worshipping, devoted eyes. That was how Kureno should be looking at him.  
  
Later, Kureno sat with Akito as they waited for a representative from the family to arrive with the money. In the manager's office, Akito sat with Kureno at his side and kept his hand firmly on Kureno's shoulder. He hated these people, these creatures who dared to try to sell one of his family. Kureno had said very little since he'd climbed up into the audience to stand by Akito, but it was clear that he was grateful and Akito wondered how frightening it must have been to think you might be sold. What if that strange man who'd sat next to Akito in the audience had bought Kureno? Akito didn't like that thought at all.  
  
So they sat together and Akito leaned up against Kureno for support. He was getting tired again, but he knew he had to stay awake until they got back to the estate.  
  
'He's mine, now.' Akito thought possessively as he took one of Kureno's callused hands and stroked it fondly. 'No one will ever hurt him. I won't let the world even touch him. He'll stay with me forever and I'll protect him.'  
  
It turned out to be Ren who came for Akito. He wasn't exactly thrilled to see her walk through the door and she glared at him once before handing over a leather brief case to the Pit's manager. "This is half." She said crisply. "The other half will be delivered tomorrow morning at ten a.m. when we're certain the merchandise we've purchased is undamaged." She gave the manager not a moment to speak before she abruptly turned on her heel and strode out of the office. "Come along, Akito-sama. The car's waiting."  
  
"No, thank you." Akito stood up, but kept his hand on Kureno's. "Kureno and I will walk home."  
  
Again, Ren's glare promised retribution, but she didn't argue, as Akito knew she wouldn't. She wouldn't risk public scandal by letting outsiders think the family was at all divided. Akito was coming to understand more and more about Ren and the more he found out, the less he liked her.  
  
"Very well, Akito-sama. Do be careful. I'd like to speak with you once you get home."  
  
Back at the estate-  
  
Kureno was obedient to a fault. He never questioned, never argued, and did exactly as Akito asked him to. He bowed deeply to Akito and spoke with reverence when he spoke to his new 'master'. All the way back to the estate, Kureno walked protectively close to Akito and explained what had happened. Kureno was a slave. Now that Akito had bought him and was his master, Kureno would literally do anything Akito wished of him.  
  
Shigure and Ayame met them in the city, both looking very relieved to find Akito safe. Shigure had given Akito a piggy back ride when Akito told him that he wasn't feeling well and Ayame chatted incessantly with the silent Kureno. Shigure berated Akito for going out alone, even if he was sad about Yahiko, and told him that next time he should wait for someone to go walking with him.  
  
Still, Akito was pleased. He had lost Yahiko, but had gained Kureno. It was a sad trade off, but it helped to stop some of the grief. Shigure and Ayame reluctantly left them as soon as Shigure dropped Akito off at his house. Shigure had wanted to stay longer, but Akito knew Ren wouldn't allow it so he sent both his cousins away. Kureno, Akito kept with him.  
  
"How dare you spend so much money?!" Ren yelled, not bothering to lower her voice at all. Apparently, Ren wasn't so much upset at the news that Kureno would be living with Akito from now on, as she was at Kureno's price tag. "Do you know what you've done? You've just put our family in the middle of an illegal-fighting ring, that's what you've done! If the media gets a hold of this, it could ruin our family!"  
  
"They were going to sell Kureno! He belongs to me, no one's allowed to have him, but me!" Akito yelled back. It was the first time he'd dared to raise his voice to Ren. "You said they belong to me and I can do whatever I like with them! I bought him and the family's money is my money, I can spend it however I please!"  
  
"You brat! This is MY family and I will run it as I see fit! That money is my money! You're nothing more than a goddamned figure-head and in a very short while you'll be dead. Go, play with your pets, the freaks. The monsters of our family are well suited for you. Don't you ever, DARE make the mistake of challenging me, Akito! If you ever do anything like this again, I'll take them away from you. Then what will you be? A weak, dying little boy locked away forever, alone."  
  
Akito glared up at Ren. "They won't leave me. I don't care what you say, they'll never leave me!"  
  
"I'm the legal head of this family, Akito. They will do what I tell them to do. I'll ship Shigure off to boarding school in Europe. Would you like that? He'll be so far away that he'll forget all about you in a week. I'll send Hatori and Ayame to military school. Do you think Ayame would look nice with that beautiful silver hair all shaved off? How about Hatori? Gentle Hatori wouldn't do well with so many people always yelling at him and having to do all that physical work."  
  
"You can't!" Akito yelled. "I won't let you!"  
  
"Won't let me? How are you going to stop me? Are you going to kill me like you did Yahiko?"  
  
"No! No! I didn't kill him!" Akito slapped his hands over his ears to stop her words. It didn't work as she only started yelling louder. He'd almost driven Yahiko's death from his mind, with all the excitement about Kureno. Almost. The pain was still there, though, lurking inside of Akito.  
  
"Why do you keep denying the truth? We both know you did it. What are you going to do if I tell everyone the truth? What if I tell them I know you killed Yahiko? Do you think your precious pets will still follow you anywhere? I won't have to do a thing, they'll abandon you all on their own."  
  
Through it all, Kureno had watched impassively from where he was standing near Akito's bed. His hands were clasped in front of him, just like he'd stood at the banquet. Though his eyes kept shifting from Ren to Akito, depending on who was speaking, he made no effort to involve himself in the conversation. Kureno took his roll in life very seriously and wouldn't act or speak until Akito called for him.  
  
"Be silent!" Akito glared at Ren hatefully. "Close your fat mouth!" It was something Akito would never have dared to say before, but now he didn't seem to be able to stop. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I didn't kill Yahiko!"  
  
With fury in her eyes, Ren reared back and smacked Akito across the face, hurling him to the floor. Just when Akito looked up, someone grey flew over his head and tackled Ren to the floor. It was Shigure in his plain grey kimono and Akito realized that Shigure must have been listening at the door the whole time. Akito was frightened to see Shigure enraged.  
  
Shigure had Ren pinned to the floor, his teeth bared and a deep growl coming from his throat. Ren struggled, of course, but Shigure was far stronger than he looked and he'd had a lot of training in fighting from Kazuma.  
  
"Don't you ever put your hands on Akito!" Shigure raged furiously. Shigure's hands slid up from Ren's shoulders and wrap around her throat. Shigure's enraged face only became angrier when he started to squeeze.  
  
Akito had never seen Shigure so angry before. It was as if his ever-cheerful manner was nothing but a mask and, for the first time, that mask had slipped off. Akito stared helplessly for a moment, his mouth hanging wide open as he saw Shigure in a way he'd never imagined him before. Shigure was actually...scary.  
  
Then, all of a sudden, Akito remembered what Ren had said. If he let the Junikyu hurt her, she'd hurt everyone else. She'd find a way to hurt them.  
  
"Shigure! Stop!" Akito cried out, pulling himself to his feet. "Stop it now!"  
  
Shigure did stop, immediately. He jumped off Ren as if he'd suddenly realized he was sitting in a pit of red hot coals and looked at Akito, amazed. Shigure said nothing as he knelt on the floor between Ren and Akito, keeping his eyes on Akito and what he was thinking, Akito couldn't guess.  
  
Shigure-  
  
'He made me stop. He won't let me protect him.' Shigure was stunned. He'd finally seen with his own eyes how badly Ren was secretly treating Akito when he was just passing by Akito's bedroom and happened to look in. He finally had all the evidence he needed to do his duty and protect his family, but Akito wouldn't let him? He couldn't disobey Akito's order to leave Ren be, but he couldn't watch Akito be hurt, either.  
  
Very slowly, Shigure rose to his feet. If he couldn't protect Akito, then Shigure would leave. He...he just couldn't stay here knowing that Akito was being treated so badly. Even worse was the knowledge that Akito apparently didn't trust Shigure enough to let Shigure take care of him. That hurt.  
  
Shigure opened his mouth a couple of times, but no sound came out. Finally, he managed to rasp out, "I'm leaving. When you need me, I'll come back. I just...I just can't stay right now." Shigure left, hardly focused on anything around him. He wasn't sure where he would go or what he would do. For now, though, he just had to get away.  
  
"Shigure, wait! Shigure!"  
  
As if from a great distance, Shigure heard Akito calling from him to come back, but he ignored it. For the first time in his life, even when his life had been ruled by Akira, Shigure fought the urge to obey his god. His heart and soul were screaming at him to go back and do as Akito wished, but Shigure kept walking. He walked until he came to the estate gates and just kept walking. He would go...somewhere. Somewhere that he didn't have to watch his family being hurt while he sat helplessly by.  
  
Akito-  
  
(She made him go away! She chased Shigure away! Kill her! Make her suffer!)  
  
Akito turned slowly to Ren. "You did this." His voice was deathly calm and Akito wanted nothing more than to strangle her with his own bare hands. "You made Shigure go away." He felt strong. All of a sudden, his vision cleared and became very stable and Akito felt as if he were the strongest person in the world.  
  
Ren gave him a contemptuous look and crossed her arms over her chest. "So what? He'll go back to his little house and cry for a bit and then he'll come back and beg for forgiveness. He's a dog. He'll come running the moment his master whistles." The venom in her voice didn't make Akito cringe, as it usually did. It made him angry.  
  
"You made Shigure leave me." Akito echoed himself, infuriated. He knew that Shigure wouldn't do as Ren predicted. He knew Shigure wasn't coming back this time. Shigure would leave the estate, but what he would do in the dangerous, dark, outside world, Akito had no idea. "How dare you?"  
  
"Get over yourself, Akito." Ren turned away from him. "Haven't you forgotten? You can't touch me. I'm your guardian, you'll do as I say."  
  
Akito reached down and felt his fingers brush across the cold surface of the mirror that lay on his bedside table. 'Can't do anything? They're my family! They belong to me!' "Don't get in my way, Ren." Akito snarled. "You'll never touch my family again!"   
  
(Yes...yes, hurt her. She hurt Shigure and made him sad. Punish her. She deserves to die for what she did to your dog.)  
  
Just as Ren started to turn towards Akito again and just as she opened her mouth to say something, Akito swung the mirror and smashed it into the side of her face. She screamed and went down with both of her hands to her face. There was a lot of blood and Akito stood over the wailing woman with the broken mirror still clenched in his hand. There was no pity for her, no remorse.  
  
"Get up, Ren."  
  
Ren didn't move. She stayed on her knees and was crying at the top of her lungs. "My face! My face!"  
  
Akito didn't move to help her. "Get up! I don't want you in my bedroom anymore."  
  
"You brat! You horrible monster!" Ren struggled to her feet and brought her hands away from her face, only to sob again as she stared at her own hands.  
  
"Kureno," Akito sat back down on his bed and held out his hand to Kureno.  
  
Obediently, Kureno went to Akito and took the offered hand. Kureno sat on the floor beside Akito and let Akito pet his hair. As usual, Kureno made no sign that he liked or disliked the touch, but he allowed it. "Yes, Akito?"  
  
"If Ren ever comes near my home again, kill her."  
  
"Yes, Akito." Kureno didn't take his eyes from Ren as he spoke to Akito and even she saw something terrible, terribly dangerous in those black eyes.  
  
"If Ren comes near me without my permission, kill her."  
  
"Yes, Akito."  
  
"If Ren ever lays a finger on any of my Junikyu, kill her."  
  
"Yes, Akito."  
  
Ren had gone quite white during all this and she stood before Akito, looking quite lost for a moment, as she peeked out between her fingers at Akito. She was shaking and blood was dripping down the front of her shirt. "You...you can't do that, Akito-sama. I'm your guardian."   
  
"I don't care."  
  
Akito went to walk passed her and Ren, still not quite believing Akito and his newfound companion, Kureno, went to grab Akito's arm with one bloody hand as he passed by her. She stopped, however, when Kureno was suddenly next to her and had a dagger pressed into her ribs. Her fingers were bare inches from Akito's arm and she froze. Slowly, Ren shifted her eyes to look at Kureno. He hadn't a bit of expression on his face and regarded her calmly, apparently waiting to see if she would go so far as to touch Akito.   
  
Akito smirked and turned his head only enough to look at Ren out of the corner of his eyes. "I will have him kill you, Ren. It won't hurt him at all, he's very good at it."  
  
Quickly, Ren drew her hand back and put it back up to her face. She glared at Akito hard between her fingers.  
  
"Don't ever forget, Ren, this is my family. You are nothing but a weed in my beautiful garden."  
  
Ayame-  
  
Ayame watched as Shigure left, but didn't try to stop his friend. He'd always known that Shigure would leave one day. Shigure really cared to much about the family that everyone knew would destroy itself. Shigure wanted desperately to save them, but there was no saving. There would never be a rescue from their cursed lives.  
  
'So, the pressure was finally to much for him. That's what happens when you try to save everyone. You just end up hurting yourself.' Ayame had no doubt that Shigure would contact him later, when he'd calmed down, and he was willing to wait.  
  
As he sat in the branches on one of the estate trees, Ayame held a letter tightly in his hands. He, like Shigure, wanted things to change, but he wasn't strong enough to accomplish anything. Ayame would settle for someone to talk to. He wanted to talk to someone, someone who wouldn't look at him strangely and someone who wouldn't judge him because of the way he talked or dressed. Someone who'd take him seriously.   
  
That was the whole reason for the envelope in Ayame's hands with the American address on the front. All he wanted was someone to talk to. He hadn't told anyone in the family about this little hobby of his, not even Hatori. Ayame was sure he could do this without giving away family secrets, even thought the other members of his family might not be so trusting of him. Ayame had, though school, gotten in touch with a pen-pal organization that had connected him with this person. Hopefully, it would be a friendship where Ayame didn't have to be so careful as he was with people he saw every day.  
  
So, as he sat in the privacy of the tree branches, Ayame turned his attention away from Shigure was now ran down the street to the envelope. Shigure would be all right. If nothing else, Shigure was a survivor, he'd do just fine no matter where he went or what he did. He certainly didn't need Ayame's help.  
  
Out of the envelope, Ayame pulled a letter written in English with the shaky hand of a child.   
  
~Hello, my name's Leon Orcot and I'm seven years old. What's your name?~  
  
To be continued...  
  
Author's note: Ta Da! And here you have it! Finally, after seven chapters, we've found Leon! Took long enough, huh? 


	8. My baby

Petshop of Horrors X-over Fruits Basket   
  
A/N: In this chapter Hatori is referred to as Hatori-sensei. Sensei doesn't only mean teacher, as many people think. It can mean any professional and is also used for doctor. He isn't technically a doctor, yet, but he is the only person in the family even remotely capable of giving any kind of medical treatment, so they give him the respect he deserves.   
  
Long Denied  
  
Chapter 8: My baby...my monster  
  
Year: 1995  
  
Akito: 12  
  
Ayame: 17  
  
Shigure: 18  
  
Hatori: 17  
  
Yuki: 6  
  
Momiji: 5  
  
Hatsuharu: 5   
  
Kureno: 18  
  
Kagura: 8  
  
Rin: 8  
  
Ritsu: 8  
  
Hiro: 3  
  
Kisa: 3  
  
Kyou: 6  
  
Leon Orcot: 13  
  
Momiji-  
  
"Momiji, mama is very, very sick. But, if she were to forget about you, they say she might get better. I know this is painful for you, too, Momiji, but papa will love you twice as much to make up for her love. If you love mama like I do, Momiji, help us save her."  
  
Momiji stood still as his papa hugged him. He knew mama was sick, but...she wanted to forget him?  
  
"But papa, what will we do when she forgets me?" Momiji didn't try to pull away from his papa, but he wanted to cry. Didn't mama love him? If mama didn't love him, did that mean papa didn't love him? "She'll see me all day."  
  
The hug tightened, but his papa wouldn't look at Momiji. "No, Momiji, she won't. Mama and I are going to move into the city. Somewhere closer to my work."  
  
"You...and mama? What about me?"  
  
"You're going to stay on the estate. You'll have everything you could want and a good home, Akito's promised me he'll find you a good family. Somewhere that you can be safe and happy. I'll still love you, I always will. You can come to visit me at my work, so long as you don't let your mama see you." He tried to smile at Momiji, but it was a weak. "I'll call you when I can."  
  
So papa was just going to leave him? Momiji felt something start to break inside of him. Call? Visit him at work? "Papa, why doesn't mama love me?"  
  
"Mama's scared, Momiji. She can't help it."  
  
"Papa, why don't you love me?"  
  
Momiji's papa looked surprised and hurt. "Oh, Momiji, I...I do love you."  
  
In papa's words, Momiji could hear the lie. In papa's eyes, Momiji could see the fear. It made him want to cry, but he didn't. He'd never noticed before, but his papa was afraid. He was even to afraid to admit it, though. He wanted to take mama and go far away, leaving Momiji with someone else.   
  
Very slowly, Momiji put his arms around his papa's neck and held him tightly, cuddling into his papa. "Please, papa, don't forget me. I promise I'll always love you. I love you and mama so much, please don't forget me. I'll do anything you want. I'll let mama forget me. I won't cry when you and mama move far away and I'll always be good. When you and mama are strong enough to love me, I'll be waiting for you." Momiji gave his papa a kiss on the cheek and then stepped away from him and managed a smile.  
  
"Momiji..."  
  
"Don't cry, papa." Momiji skipped away. "If you cry, you'll make mama sad. I'm going to Haru's house." Momiji skipped away from his papa and tried to ignore the thing inside him that was hurting so much. His papa really didn't want him. 'I have to keep smiling. If I don't smile, I'm sure I'll cry.'  
  
Kyou-  
  
Kyou lived in darkness. At least, that's what it seemed like, sometimes.   
  
The rare times Kyou was allowed to see the sunlight were like brief visits to heaven to him, but, for the most part, life was darkness. His mom would, of course, let him wander around the house, but Kyou was never allowed to see the light. The shades were always securely tied down and the back yard was forbidden. So Kyou spent most of his early life wandering the quiet halls of his small house and wanting to get out. He never said anything, whenever he asked to go out it would upset his mom so much. Kyou's mom wasn't home very much, but Kyou tried not to be angry with her. She loved him, after all, so it was all right if she wasn't always around. It was all right that she didn't want anyone else to see him, because she loved him so much. His mom had told him that.   
  
"I don't want any of the other mother's to see you because you're so cute. I want to keep you all to myself."  
  
Kyou's privileges to wander the house weren't absolute, but he didn't mind, much. Most of the time, Kyou stayed in his room. Kyou had lots of books to help him pass the time. He was only six, but his mom was always telling him how smart he was because he could read. There wasn't much else to do and Kyou liked the books his cousin Shigure brought him. His favorites were the ones about faeries and elves, with brave knights that went to rescue the fair lady and kings had magic swords. Kyou spent hours daydreaming that he was in those strange worlds of beautiful magic and grand adventure.  
  
He didn't mind, not really. Well...maybe he did mind, but just a little. He didn't mind that his mom had used duct tape to seal the windows closed or the stifling heat in the summer that it caused. He didn't mind the implication that his mom didn't trust him, so she locked him in his bedroom. He didn't even mind that he wasn't allowed to watch television.   
  
"It's not good for your eyes, Kyou. I don't want you to ruin your eyes."  
  
Kyou knew his mom watch the television, because he could hear it and her when he was locked in his room. He honestly didn't understand why he couldn't watch with her, but it was a rule and Kyou wanted to make his mom happy, so he always did what she told him to. What Kyou really didn't like...what he hated...was the darkness.  
  
He wasn't entirely sure why there was no light in his room, but his mama had said that it was important. Kyou thought he might know the answer, but he didn't like to dwell on it. Sometimes, when it was very late at night, Kyou would stare into the blackness of the night and the answer would appear to him. 'She doesn't want to look at me. She hates me. That's why she makes me stay in the dark.' At times like this, Kyou would shake his head and try to make the traitorous thoughts vanish. 'The only time she lets me out of my bedroom is when she's going out. She doesn't have to look at me, that way.'  
  
One day, Kyou sat in the darkness of his bedroom, his back against his bed while he sat on the floor, and blindly ran his fingers over the bracelet on his left wrist. He let his fingers slide over the alternating smooth and rough beads, over and over and over. He practiced counting with the beads, going higher and higher until he lost count and started over. Kyou was very careful to be quiet. Mom didn't like it when he made a lot of noise.  
  
"Hiroko? May I come in?" Kyou's head shot up at the voice. It was a familiar voice and Kyou wondered if he'd have to have shots again. Hatori-sensei always wanted to give him shots.  
  
"I'm sorry, Hatori-sensei." Mom's voice answered. "I'm...er...a bit busy right now. Was something wrong with Kyou's last check-up?"  
  
Curious, Kyou put himself on his hands and knees and peered under the door. Under the door shone the light from the hallway and Kyou could only just see mom's feet. She was standing at the door and Hatori-sensei must be on the other side of the door. Kyou wasn't sure if he liked Hatori-sensei or not. He actually saw Hatori-sensei quite a bit, when he came to give Kyou check-ups, but Hatori-sensei always gave Kyou shots and nasty tasting medicine. On the other hand, Hatori-sensei sometimes gave Kyou sweets afterwards for being a good boy.  
  
"Hiroko, I'd like to speak with you for just a moment. If I may?" Hatori-sensei stepped in after a moment, without waiting for an answer or an invitation. "It's not about Kyou. I've come to speak about you, actually." He paused. "Where is Kyou?"  
  
"Kyou's...out. He's playing out back. You know boys, he always wants to run around." She laughed, trying to sound careless, but it sounded hollow, even to Kyou. He wondered why his mom was lying to Hatori-sensei, but Kyou stayed quiet, just like mom had taught him.  
  
"I see." Hatori-sensei didn't sound like he believed mom, either. "In any case, people have been commenting that you're spending to much time on your own, Hiroko. Your neighbors haven't seen you leave the house in more than three weeks, everyone's getting worried."  
  
"There's no reason to worry. I'm fine. Don't I look fine?"  
  
"Outward appearances have little to do with anything, Hiroko."  
  
"I don't see why you're making such a fuss. I've been busy with housework, that's all."  
  
"For three weeks?"  
  
"Look, I'm just fine! I don't see where this is your concern anyway, Hatori, you aren't a doctor, yet. I'm grateful that you look after Kyou, but my health is my own business."  
  
"No, it isn't. Your health and business is the business of the family. I may not be a doctor yet, but I am responsible for everyone. Now, why don't we sit down and..."  
  
"No!" Kyou's mom yelled so suddenly and fiercely that Kyou shut his eyes tight, as if that could block out her angry voice. "You aren't welcomed in this house anymore! Get out! Unless you have a written order from Akito-sama I don't want to see you at my door again!"  
  
There was a long pause.  
  
"Very well." Hatori-sensei turned and started to walk out. "I will be back in two hours with that written order you want. However we do this, Hiroko, I will satisfy myself that you are not sick or depressed. I'll also speak with Kyou...privately." Hatori left and Kyou's mom closed the door behind him.  
  
"That's all I'm good for, isn't it? Taking care of him so the rest of you don't have to worry about him. That's all any of you need me for, isn't it? You just need me as a keeper for the monster." She sniffed loudly and Kyou wondered if she was crying. "My baby...my monster. No! He isn't! I don't care what any of them say, he's not a monster! He's my baby!" Kyou watched his mom's feet turn away from the door and she walked away, muttering under her breath. "Two hours...two hours...that's plenty of time. Plenty."  
  
Then Kyou was alone again, puzzling over the strange conversation. He didn't know why Hatori-sensei would want to talk with him or why he was worried about mom. Mom was the same as she always was. Even the there were no more voices in the hallway, Kyou kept his cheek planted on the floor and stared out at the light. There wasn't much to see, really. Still, he stared.  
  
'But I am a monster. I know I am.' Kyou thought, remembering very clearly his last transformation. The last time the bracelet had slipped off when he wasn't paying attention and there had been such unbearable pain. It felt like his bones were growing and twisting completely out of shape. Everything changed so quickly, so painfully, that Kyou had almost passed out from it. His skin had been so hot and Kyou could smell burning flesh, like bacon cooking, and knew that it was him. He had seen himself in the mirror and seen the monster.   
  
'I shouldn't have left the house, mom was so mad afterwards. But I was scared.' Kyou had been alone in the house when it had happened and when his mom had come home he had run to her, frightened but certain his mom could fix whatever had happened. Instead of helping, mom's eyes had gotten very big and she screamed so loudly. She wouldn't touch him and ran away. 'I wouldn't have hurt her, but she was so scared. She knows I'm a monster, but why won't she see me?'  
  
Even Akito had seen Kyou when he was a monster and he said Kyou was a monster. Kyou had run all over the estate, looking for someone who could help him, when he came across the boy with dark grey hair. He had seen Akito at the previous New Years celebration, but had never spoken to him. Kyou's mom had always told him not to go near Akito. When he'd seen Kyou's monstrous body Akito had said things that hurt Kyou very much, but everything he'd said about Kyou had been the truth. Akito had seen Kyou, even though he hated him and had held his arm up to his face so he wouldn't breathe in Kyou's horrible smell, and Kyou knew that Akito accepted every part of him.   
  
Why couldn't his mom see Kyou? Again, part of Kyou already knew that answer. She couldn't see him, because she didn't want to. She couldn't love that part of him.  
  
The floor creaked again and, as Kyou knew she would, his mom came back. She stood in front of the door for a moment. "Kyou-chan, would you like to come out for a bit?"  
  
"Yes!" Kyou said, careful to keep his voice as quiet as possible. It was always a treat to be allowed out of the room.  
  
There was what seemed like a very loud click and Kyou knew mom was unlocking the door. It started to open, but then halted. "Are you wearing your bracelet, dear?"  
  
"Yes, mom." Kyou didn't have to check. His bracelet was always on. He didn't want to ever go through such terrible pain again and he never wanted to scare his mom again.  
  
"Good boy." The door fully opened and Kyou raised a hand to shade his eyes from the sudden bright light and looked up on his mom's beautiful face. "Why don't you come out and have some tea with me?"  
  
Hatori's house-  
  
Shigure-  
  
Shigure silently thumbed through Ayame's mail looking for something good to read. Yes, it was remarkably rude, but Shigure had discovered something about human nature. If everyone thought you were rude and obnoxious, you could act that way and people would basically ignore your behavior. The problems only came when you hid your bad qualities and then people found out accidentally. Shigure not only didn't hide his bad habits, such as reading other people's mail, but he exaggerated them. Therefore, no one was surprised if they caught him doing things like this.   
  
He wasn't at all surprised to find that Ayame was still living with Hatori, since he knew how much Ayame hated being alone. Though he did have his own house, the house of the Snake, Ayame was rarely there. He even had his mail delivered to Hatori's house and had his own bedroom in Hatori's house. It just showed how much Ayame cared for Hatori and how kind Hatori was.   
  
Shigure had his own key to Hatori's house, not that Hatori knew that little fact. In fact, Shigure had keys to almost every building on the Souma estate. Shigure had only just arrived at the estate only a few hours ago and, when no one answered the door of Hatori's house, he had taken the liberty of letting himself in. Hatori wouldn't mind, probably.  
  
It was, of course, New Years again and the whole family had gathered at the estate to celebrate. In fact, this was the first time in six months that Shigure had been home at all. Oh, he'd been at HIS home, his own little house about a half mile from the estate, but he hadn't really been home. As any good Souma would, Shigure came to the estate whenever Akito called for him, or whenever there was family duty to perform, but other than that, he stayed away.  
  
It wasn't easy to stay away. Shigure knew things were getting harder within the inner circle of the family, due to Akito's deteriorating mental health. It hadn't happened all at once, but Shigure could see the steady decline in Akito's thinking, even if he wasn't around all the time. After all, Hatori gave him pretty accurate reports and Ayame always was a good source of useful family gossip.   
  
Shigure had an overwhelming urge to grovel for Akito's forgiveness and return to his house on the estate. He didn't do it. Shigure knew that Ren was gone, out of Akito's life and unable to touch him now that Kureno had taken the position of Akito's bodyguard and personal companion. Still...Shigure held onto his dream. One day, he'd make the family healthy and whole. One day, he would see Akito healthy and to do that, Shigure knew he had to separate himself from the family. Distancing himself from the family gave Shigure a more objective view of them. Besides, Shigure didn't think he could stand watching Akito slowly go insane. That would hurt to much.  
  
Unfortunately, that meant Shigure had to live in his own house. When he'd bought the large house in the forest, it had, naturally, been joined to the Souma estate. It's large property meant that Shigure could go running in the forest when he pleased and there was no chance of any noise to interrupt his writing. Still, there were times that Shigure missed noise.  
  
Shigure really didn't like his house very much. It was far to empty. All he did was sit alone in his empty house and write. He had filled out his pages in the seemingly endless family diary long ago, but Shigure had discovered, while doing his duty to family history, that he enjoyed writing. He liked it so well that he had managed to finish writing his first novel and sold it.   
  
The novel was a romance and had been surprisingly easy to write. In fact, Shigure had found himself writing about Ayame. A different name, of course, but it was Ayame. The book had ended up a terrible love story, filled with grief and pain. Shigure was pleased that the book had made him so much money, it already had hit the best seller's list, but he didn't like the story.   
  
'Stupid.' Shigure berated himself. 'I wrote the book, but the ending was so terrible. I should have made the main character win the love of his life. I should have written a happy ending.' Strangely, no matter how Shigure had worked at it, he hadn't been able to write a happy ending to Ayame's story. Not that he'd done any better with his other novel.   
  
'That one didn't even get finished. It was my own story, too.' That book was also meant to be a romance, but Shigure couldn't bear to write the end. He was fairly certain how his own story would end and he didn't like that ending anymore than he'd like the end of Ayame's story. That particular manuscript still sat in Shigure's writing room, under a heap on this and that, hidden from view. Every now and again, he tried to finish it, but he never got very far.  
  
"You shouldn't be doing that." Hatori's voice interrupted Shigure's thoughts when he strode into the room. "You know Ayame doesn't like it." Hatori sat down hard on his couch, almost immediately slumping down as he loosened the tie around his neck. "How did you get my house, anyway?"  
  
"You look tired. To much studying will do that to you." Shigure commented as he still rifled through Ayame's mail. Besides distracting Hatori, he really was concerned. Hatori tended to work himself to hard. Going through Ayame's mail was a good way to make sure Ayame wasn't in any trouble. Shigure paused a moment when he came to a letter marked with childish handwriting and a United States of America post mark. 'America? Who does Ayame know in America? Leon Orcot?' Shigure put down the stack of letters, but kept the mysterious American one. He moved to stand behind Hatori, knowing that what he was about to do would upset Hatori.  
  
"As if you'd know." Hatori said with dully. "You dropped out, remember?" It was one of Hatori's great irritations in life that Shigure had dropped out of high school and never looked back. However, as the years had passed, Hatori had grown almost tired to trying to convince Shigure to go back to high school and he almost never mentioned the idea of Shigure going to college.  
  
"Yes, yes, Ha-san." Shigure patted Hatori on the shoulder as he continued to examine the envelope in his hand. It couldn't be from some kind of business, not with the sloppy handwriting. "You always make such a big deal out of it. I'm doing fine on my own and I don't need lessons to write."  
  
Hatori grunted, but didn't open his eyes. "I've got to see Helga in a few minutes."  
  
"Oh? I heard she wasn't feeling well." Shigure turned the envelope over and found that it was already opened and fought a smile. He could just peek and have a little read. After all, he didn't want dear Ayame to be associating with someone who might be some kind of pervert. He pulled the letter out carefully, hoping that Hatori wouldn't decide to open his eyes all of a sudden and spoil the fun. There was precious little fun in Shigure's life, so he took it wherever he could. The letter was written in English, not Shigure's forte, but he could manage. It was apparently from someone named Leon Orcot and there was a picture enclosed. He was a young boy, maybe thirteen years old, with shaggy blonde hair and a bright smile.  
  
"You should visit more often." Hatori said, bitterly. It was enough to make Shigure look at him. Hatori didn't usually speak so harshly. "Helga's losing her mind."  
  
Now that caught Shigure's attention. He folded the letter back up as he'd found and slid it into the pile of letters before going to Hatori and putting both hands on his shoulders. "Are you sure?" Insanity wasn't an uncommon tragedy in the Souma family and it was a problem that could be dealt with. The family was certainly wealthy enough to afford the best care, even if that meant hospitalization, medications, or long term private care. The family could afford it, so long as the family members were closely monitored and they weren't pregnant. Junikyu family members...well, they weren't allowed that kind of long term care and had to make do with what could be arranged within the family.  
  
Hatori slowly opened his eyes and glared at Shigure. "Am I sure?" He echoed. "Do I look like I've gone stupid since the last time you saw me? Of course I'm sure!" His eyes were narrowed dangerously when he finally turned to look up at Shigure, but Shigure didn't flinch. Hatori rarely yelled, so Shigure knew this was important.  
  
"Tell me." It wasn't exactly a request as Shigure leaned down and wrapped his arms around Hatori's neck. He knew Hatori didn't like such close contact, but sometimes it was good for people to be close. It was healthy to let yourself lean on other people once in a while, Shigure believed.   
  
"It's Momiji. She can't accept him."  
  
Shigure's expression didn't change, not that Hatori would see it from where he was sitting. "Momiji? But he's six already. I thought if there were going to be problems, she'd have shown it before now. I thought it was going well with them." Shigure had heard all the rumors about Helga and didn't really need Hatori to tell him what was going on. It was good for Hatori to have someone to vent to.  
  
"She tried." Hatori sighed, sounding very tired. "She really tried to love him. Lately, there are rumors that she beat him. Her temper's getting shorter and shorter and it's usually focused on Momiji." Hatori pulled out of Shigure's arms only long enough to get himself a cigarette, but then he leaned back again and let Shigure's arms enfold him. "It came on slowly, but if we don't get her away from him, she's going to lose herself. I'm afraid for Momiji, too. He had a terrible bruise on his face a few weeks ago. It's faded now, but he never would tell how he got it."  
  
"What does Momiji's father say about all this?"  
  
"You know Takano. He's always away on business. Akito even gave him one of the Tokyo businesses, to keep him closer to home, but he stays there working most of the time and rarely hardly ever comes home. I believe he's rejecting Momiji, too, but more quietly. He's dealing with it by avoiding Momiji. It's a pity. If Takano were with his family, they might be able to cope."  
  
Shigure closed his eyes and wondered what would become of Momiji. Momiji was still so young, but he was plenty old enough to remember what was going to happen to him. They would be separated, there was no doubt of that. Shigure, himself, didn't remember his parents or sisters, but Momiji would always remember. Actually, most parents in the family were doing well, lately. Hatsuharu's mother and father both loved him dearly, despite his unpredictably violent mood swings. Kisa was doted on by her mother, who was raising Hiro, too. The only reason Hiro didn't live with his parents was that they both traveled for business reasons; they did love him very much. "So, what's going to happen?"  
  
"I'll speak with her," Hatori said. "But Akito's pretty much decided that they're going to be separated. He won't let Momiji be hurt. He's Junikyu, after all. Helga's asked to have her memory erased and Takano agrees that it's for the best. He even got little Momiji to agree, if you can believe that. That child's only five and he comes to me with a big smile saying that he wants his mother to forget him!" Hatori scowled at the memory. "He's to young to really understand what's going on. I guess Takano wants to make sure I do this. Take Momiji firmly out of their lives."  
  
"Have pity." Shigure urged, leaning his cheek against Hatori's. "Perhaps this is all for the best."  
  
"How can you say that? You of all people should know what Momiji's going to go through without his parents."  
  
"It'll hurt Momiji to be taken from him mother and father, but would it really be better for him to stay with them? His father's never at home and his mother's becoming abusive. That can't be good for him. How would you have turned out if you'd been taken away from your mother and father when you were Momiji's age instead of ten? Wouldn't you have been happier away from them?"  
  
Hatori was quiet for a while. "You play dirty, Shigure."  
  
"Yes. I know." Sensing that Hatori needed time to think about this problem, Shigure abruptly changed the subject. He moved away from Hatori only long enough to sit by him on the sofa. "So, how is every little thing, Ha-San?  
  
"About the same." Hatori shrugged. "I'm passing my classes."  
  
"Ah, but I knew you would. I mean, how's the family. Is there anything I should know about?"  
  
"If you came back home, you wouldn't have to ask."  
  
"Are you trying to persuade me to come back?"  
  
"No." Hatori shook his head. "No, I know better than to try to get you to change your mind. You're the most stubborn person I've ever met."  
  
"Good. Now, you told me about Momiji's family, what about Yuki and Kyou? How are they holding up? Yuki's health still bad?"  
  
"Actually, Yuki's growing out of his bad health and, I think, given a good environment, he'll grow out of the breathing problems all together. As for Kyou, your guess is as good as mine. Physically he's perfectly fine, but I'm worried about his emotional growth. He's almost never allowed to play outside and I don't think he's ever played with the other children. I went to see Hiroko just now, but...she's having problems. I think I'll have to take Kyou away from her, for her sake as well as Kyou's. I hate to do it, Kyou's going to have enough problems in his life, this might break him."  
  
"He's a Souma, Hari." Shigure reminded Hatori with a sad smile. "He's strong and he'll survive. So, I presume Hiroko still keep him locked in the house?" Shigure couldn't help but think what a pity that was. Among the many unpleasant Souma clan traditions was that the cat was always locked up once they became an adult. At age eighteen, or high school graduation, they were secluded in the cat's house. Shigure remembered Touma and how his old friend had almost never left his house. What a lonely doom. It was one of the reasons that Shigure made an effort to bring Kyou books every time he visited. This time, he brought one of those fantasy books he knew Kyou loved. He really was quite a little genius when it came to learning to read.   
  
"Yes, but it's getting worse. Hiroko's stopped going out herself, lately. I'm going back after I see Momiji and his mother. I don't think I can safely wait much longer. I'll make my decision then. If she's to far gone, I'll find somewhere else for Kyou to live, even if I have to ask Akito for the cat's house early. I'm starting to think that it would be better for Kyou to live alone than with his mother. If she's abusing him or she's losing control of herself, then I'll take him from her."  
  
"You think she'll complain to Akito?"  
  
"I'm not sure. She always says she's very proud of him and loves him, but she acts completely differently. I'll talk with Kyou, he'll tell me what's going on, I think. He's a very honest boy." Hatori shook his head. "She might fight to keep him or let him go very easily. There's no way to tell. I'm not even sure she really knows what she wants."  
  
"Hari," Shigure said, coming to a firm decision. "If no one else will have Kyou, let me know. I'll have him."  
  
"You?" Hatori looked at him, surprised. "I didn't think you liked children."  
  
"I've got a big house and it might do him good to be away from the estate. It'll give him breathing room."  
  
"Perhaps you're right. I'm worried about Yuki, also. I know I'm not really a doctor, yet, but Akito does insist I look after the child. He's so...quiet. He rarely ever speaks. There's also a look a terrible despair in his eyes, a child his age shouldn't have that kind of look on his face. I wish I could get Aya to visit him more."  
  
"He won't?" That surprised Shigure. "If nothing else, I thought if you'd asked him..."  
  
"Oh, it's not that Aya doesn't want to, he's tried a couple of times."  
  
"Then what's the problem?"  
  
"Yuki's foster parents. They won't allow Ayame to visit. I suppose they're afraid that Aya will try to assert his rights to have Yuki live with him at his house. After all, they are brothers and Akito wouldn't have a problem giving Yuki to Aya. Ayame does have a better claim, especially after he turns eighteen. Therefore, Yuki's foster parents want to create as much distance between him and Aya. Now that Aya's started his own business, it'll be doubly hard for them to see each other. Aya can't help but feel awkward around Yuki and Yuki doesn't even know Aya. Aya keeps thinking about his mother whenever he looks at Yuki, so he doesn't want to look at Yuki at all."  
  
Shigure thought on that problem. "That doesn't seem right. Akito agrees to what they're doing?" It was odd, to say the very least, for Akito to side with a normal family member rather than one of his Junikyu. "I'm a bit surprised that he doesn't order Ayame to take Yuki in. If anything, it would be easier for him to control Yuki if he were living with Ayame, what with them both being Junikyu."  
  
"Akito's been changing, Shigure. He's not thinking straight."  
  
"Changing? How?"  
  
"It's his health, you know that." Hatori shifted uncomfortably and Shigure was worried. Hatori never fidgeted, he thought it was undignified. "He's...he's starting to go like Akira. It's worse than before. He's very susceptible to suggestions and Yuki's foster parents have convinced him that they'll always make sure Yuki is with him."  
  
Shigure wasn't surprised about Akito's deteriorating health. He'd had a long time to get used to the idea. The rumors he'd heard that Akito abusing his own family was probably true, too. Shigure hated that thought, hated it with a passion. "Yuki's foster mother, she's Ren's sister, isn't she?"  
  
"Yes. She's got Ren's way of thinking, too. She's using Yuki to get into Akito's good favor. Ren's left though, so she's no longer a danger. You know, I never did find out why she left so suddenly."  
  
"Do you think Yuki's in danger?" Personally, Shigure had his doubts about whether Ren was gone for good. She was, after all, family and Souma's were always taught that family is more important than anything. It wouldn't have been difficult for her to convince a distant family member to let her stay with them. She could be somewhere now, plotting to return. Ren had been practically a queen in the Souma family for several years and it wasn't likely that someone with her ambition would give up that power so easily.  
  
"I'm not sure. Yuki hardly speaks to me when I visit him. I think his foster parents have scared him to much to trust anyone. He hasn't told me that they are hurting him, but he hasn't denied it, either. I've never seen any suspicious injuries, but they could just not be calling me and keeping Yuki hidden away until any injuries are healed." He looked at Shigure seriously. "What I do know is, they're forcing Yuki to be with Akito. Ayame saw it. Yuki's foster mother was dragging him to Akito's house, kicking and fighting the whole way. Akito's giving them all kinds of privileges, though they're subtler than Ren was and apparently aren't trying to take over the family, they are still using him. He's given them a larger house and almost anything else they want."  
  
"What does Kureno say about this?" Kureno had become an unexpected ally in the mess that was the Souma family. It could honestly be said that, with Shigure gone, Kureno was the person closest to Akito. Though Kureno had rarely spoken about his past, Shigure had done a bit of research and had a pretty good idea of what his younger cousin had gone though before Akito's marvelous rescue. As a result, Kureno felt that he owed Akito everything. He paid off this debt by being Akito's self-appointed bodyguard. Kureno was also smart enough to feed information to Hatori when he thought it was important.  
  
"He doesn't know much, but he doesn't like Yuki's foster parents. He says they're taking advantage of Akito and Yuki, using them both to get what they want. He won't betray Akito, but he's hinting that Akito might be hurting Yuki. He also said that he hasn't been allowed to meet Yuki and that Akito always sees Yuki in private. The problem with Yuki is that I can't just take Yuki away from the person who's hurting him. Akito won't agree to it, he thinks he won't be able to see Yuki if I take him away from his foster parents and he certainly won't allow me to NOT let Yuki visit him."  
  
"He's fixated on Yuki." Shigure said out loud. "He still thinks Yuki is Junko and believes that Yuki should love him more than anyone else. If Yuki doesn't, Akito's going to make him. Damn."  
  
The doorbell rang and Hatori sighed as he stood up. "That's Momiji and his parents. You might want to leave. This is going to be unpleasant."  
  
Of course, Shigure didn't leave. He stepped out of view, so Momiji's parents wouldn't see him, but stayed outside Hatori's office. At least, it was the room Hatori planned to use as his office as soon as he became a real doctor. He could hear everything, but didn't peek into the room.  
  
Takano brought his wife in, carrying her, and he set her up in the chair that Hatori indicated. "You should leave, Takano. Make yourself comfortable in my living room, please. This won't take a moment." Hatori's voice no longer sounded so tired and weak. Now, he was strong, cold, and professional. "Where's Momiji?"  
  
"I left him at home." Takano said. "I didn't think he should see this."  
  
"I see."  
  
"You'll get him when this is all over? If he's there when I take Helga home..."  
  
"Don't concern yourself about it. I'll take care of Momiji. If you'd brought him here, it might have made things easier, though."  
  
"Helga can't stand the sight of him, Hatori-sensei. She won't be in the same room with him anymore. It's killing her." From his voice, Shigure knew Takano was almost in tears. "Please, help her."  
  
Hatori wasted no time. "Go. I'll be done shortly." Shigure heard the sound of footsteps and there was a moment of silence before Hatori continued speaking. In that moment of silence Shigure found someone standing next to him. Momiji was only looked at Shigure for a moment before he crept to the edge of the door and peeked around into Hatori's office.  
  
'He must have snuck in.' Shigure realized, surprised that Momiji had managed it. He thought about taking Momiji away, but decided against it. The next few moments were going to be a huge factor in the boy's life, it was only fair that he be there. Shigure absently put a hand on Momiji's shoulder, but the boy didn't acknowledge the touch. He was far to involved in what was going on in the office.   
  
"Helga, do you know why you're here?" Hatori asked, making his voice softer than it had been when he spoke with Takano.  
  
"I...I don't want him."  
  
"Don't want who?"  
  
"The boy. That...that animal. That thing. I don't want him. Make him go away." Her voice was barely a whisper, but there was a terrible hate behind her words.  
  
"I can do that." There was a creak of Hatori's old chair as he sat down. "I can make you forget him. I can take him away and make sure you never have to worry about him again, but you must be sure."  
  
"Please. Please. I don't want to be a mother anymore. I'd rather die than see him. He's a demon." As she kept speaking, her voice grew more and more frantic. "I just want him to go away."  
  
"Is this what you want? Do you really want to forget about your only child? Are you sure you won't regret it?"  
  
"Right now, my greatest regret is that that THING ever came from my body!"  
  
Shigure kept his eyes closely on Momiji while this was all going on. The boy was perfectly still and it was a mystery to Shigure how he could watch and hear all this and not start crying. Momiji's face was a blank mask, but he did look a bit paler than usual. He wondered if Momiji really understood what was happening.  
  
The creak of the chair told Shigure that Hatori was standing up. This was the end. The only indication Shigure had of what was going on in the room was Momiji's reaction. The boy tensed and closed his eyes.  
  
A soft thump hit the floor and Shigure guessed that it was Helga. She would have fainted after Hatori's treatment, everyone always did.   
  
"Shigure? Where are you?" Hatori's voice sounded weak.   
  
Shigure started to go to Hatori, but stopped himself when he looked down at Momiji. Instead of going to Hatori or trying to comfort Momiji, Shigure began to inch away. A brilliant thought had just occurred to him and he decided that it would be best for Momiji if Hatori were to find him there alone.   
  
"Shigure, I need you."   
  
Still, Shigure kept quietly backing away from Momiji and where Hatori would be expecting him to be until he had rounded another corner and ended up in Hatori's kitchen. This time, though, he did spy on them. Momiji stayed still as a statue even as Hatori staggered out of his office. Hatori looked exhausted and, not for the first time, Shigure pondered what, exactly, Hatori did when he erased a person's memories. Hatori had never been able to explain it. He had once told Shigure that it was like an instinct, just something he was born with and that he didn't really understand it any better than Shigure understood how a heart kept beating. Oh, Shigure knew that it involved electrical impulses, but he really didn't understand it.  
  
Hatori was pale and shaking and, when he finally saw Momiji, blinked down at him. "Momiji? You shouldn't be here." He sounded as if he hadn't slept in days and Shigure was glad that this whole thing about erasing people's memories was getting easier on Hatori as the years passed. It was still tiring for him, but no longer gave him splitting headaches that lasted for days on end.  
  
Very slowly, Momiji looked up at Hatori. "Mama? Has she forgotten me?"  
  
Shigure saw Hatori's shoulders slump. He nodded. "Yes. I made her forget you. I'm sorry." He meant that apology, Shigure knew. Hatori hated what he did, even though he knew it was sometimes necessary. He always wished there were a better way to solve the family problems.  
  
Momiji threw his arms around Hatori's waist and hugged him. "Thank you, Hatori-sensei. Thank you for helping mama."  
  
Reluctantly at first, Hatori returned the hug. It was gradual, at first, but soon Hatori was hugging Momiji back as tightly as the child was holding him. Neither said a word or made a noise, but Shigure smiled from where he watched. He was a very good judge of character and knew that he'd made the right decision to let these to find each other. Hatori would adopt, or at the very least, foster Momiji. Momiji would have the loving, attentive father he needed and Hatori would be forced to open himself up a little more. It would be a good arrangement for both of them.  
  
After leaving Hatori and Momiji alone, Shigure began to make his way to Akito's house. It was time he paid his God a visit and have a little discussion about giving Momiji to Hatori and where to put Kyou, should he be taken from his mother.  
  
-Bang!-  
  
Shigure heard it and turned abruptly, shocked by the sound of a gunshot. He knew that was what the sound had been, he heard hunters in the forest often enough to recognize the sound. On the estate, however, why would anyone be firing a gun?  
  
Curiosity brought out a good many of the family and Shigure found most of them surrounding Hiroko's house. "What's going on?" Shigure asked when he worked his way into the crowd. Everyone knew he was one of the inner circle, even if they didn't exactly know what the inner circle was, and gave way to him. It was at times like these that Shigure was glad about the curse. It did give one a few small advantages.  
  
"That noise came from Hiroko's house, Shigure." One man said, pointing needlessly. "We can't get in, her door's locked. It's always locked these days. I don't know what she has to be afraid of on the estate, though."  
  
Shigure motioned for everyone to move away from the door before he tried it. The man had been right, it was very firmly locked and again, Shigure was glad for the spare keys he had made. It took him a moment to find the right key, but when he unlocked the door, Shigure looked over his shoulder at the crowd. "Everyone, stay outside. Someone run and tell Hatori we might need him." Shigure hated to interrupt the little private time Hatori and Momiji were no doubt having. He didn't wait to see that his order was obeyed, but started into the house and closed the door very firmly behind him. The moment he'd opened the door, his fine sense of smell had found the scent of blood.  
  
"Hiroko?" Shigure called out. "Are you home?" It was a foolish question, he could see her shoes right there in the hallway, so of course she was home. Still, he had hoped to get an answer. The house remained silent and Shigure followed the scent of blood, dreading what he would find. The scent was to strong for just a small injury.  
  
He found what he was looking for in the kitchen. A teakettle was on the stove, whistling merrily, and two teacups were set on the neat table. Hiroko was on the floor in a puddle of blood.  
  
She was very obviously dead, but Shigure knelt down to check for a pulse, anyway. Nothing. Her body was still warm, though, and Shigure knew Hiroko had shot herself in the head. The suicide weapon, a small handgun, was laying where it had fallen on the floor, just a few feet from her hands, and there was a large hole in Hiroko's forehead. There was no sign of Kyou, but Shigure could find Kyou's scent amidst the blood in the air.  
  
"Kyou!" Shigure shouted, turning away from Hiroko's body. He couldn't worry about Hiroko now, she was dead. Kyou was still alive, or so Shigure hoped. There was a very real chance that Hiroko might have killed Kyou before she took her own life. It had happened before. "Kyou, where are you! Answer me!" There was no answer as Shigure tore through the halls of the house, following the scent. 'He must have seen it all. No wonder he ran.' Shigure only hoped that Kyou was still in the house. It would be a lot more difficult to find him if he got out and ran into the city.  
  
He found little Kyou hiding in the hall closet, his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his head. He was perfectly still, except for slight trembling.  
  
"Kyou?" Shigure got down on his knees and spoke softly. "Kyou-chan? Have you been hurt? Did she hurt you?" He looked Kyou over, at least what he could see of the boy, and didn't see any obvious injuries. No physical ones, anyway.  
  
Kyou just bundled himself up tighter in a ball, keeping his face firmly hidden under his arms. "Don't touch me." Kyou whispered. "Don't look at me. I wasn't bad."  
  
"I know you weren't, Kyou-chan." Shigure felt as much pity for Kyou as he did for Momiji. They'd both lost their mother's in terrible ways. "Don't be afraid, Kyou-chan. Come with me." But the moment Shigure reached out for Kyou, Kyou bolted, dodging easily under Shigure's outstretched arms and shooting down the hallway. "Kyou!"  
  
Kyou ran as fast as he could, but Shigure was faster. He caught Kyou easily and brought him to the ground, but Kyou fought back. "Leave me alone! I didn't do it! I didn't!"   
  
Kyou fought just like a cat, biting, spitting, and scratching every chance he got and Shigure was at a disadvantage that he had to be careful not to accidentally rip off Kyou's bracelet. In the end, Shigure had to almost lay down on Kyou, putting his full weight on the boy just to hold him down and hope that Kyou would started to run out of strength soon. Left on his own, Shigure wasn't sure that Kyou wouldn't try to hurt himself. He waited Kyou out, grateful that Kyou was still so young. In a few years it would have been a lot harder to restrain him. Soon, Kyou was reduced from fighting to sobbing and Shigure gratefully started to get up. He did so slowly, mindful that Kyou could bolt again, but he didn't. Kyou just lay there, flat on his stomach, and cried into the floor.  
  
Panting for breath, Shigure put his hands on Kyou's back and then in his hair. "Shhhh...it'll be okay." He avoided mentioning what Kyou had obviously seen, but he was curious to know if Kyou had gone to see what all the noise was about after his mother had killed herself or if he'd actually seen it. There had been two teacups on the table, Shigure remembered. Shigure patted Kyou's pumpkin orange hair and already envisioned Kyou's lonely future that lay before him. Shigure remembered what he'd said to Hatori. He would take Kyou, for surely no one else who knew of the curse would want Kyou. "I promise it'll be all right...somehow."  
  
Shigure didn't have to be worried about Kyou, it turned out. He kept Kyou at his house on the estate through New Years and his mother's funeral. All the time, Shigure kept a very close eye on Kyou as he got the feeling that Kyou was on the brink of an explosion. For the three days of New Years Kyou would wander around listlessly and Shigure tried to give the boy enough space to grieve. He watched Kyou from a safe distance where he could easily intervene if Kyou tried to do something stupid.   
  
Fortunately, Kyou behaved himself for the three days of New Years. In fact, he behaved almost to well. Shigure hadn't had much experience with small children, he had never planned to be a father and, lately, didn't have much opportunity to be around his little cousins. He was pretty sure, though, that most children who saw their mother commit suicide should have some kind of therapy. He had expected Kyou to be angry or crying all the time. Instead, Kyou sat in the room that Shigure had given him and didn't make a sound. When Shigure tried to make Kyou go out to play, Kyou would sullenly do as Shigure told him, but he wouldn't play with the other children. Of course, the other children didn't want to play with Kyou, either.  
  
It was the third day of New Years that worried Shigure, most. He wouldn't be able to keep an eye on Kyou, since he would be at the banquet, and he couldn't bring Kyou with him. There wasn't anyone he trusted enough to leave Kyou with who wasn't Junikyu. Everyone else despised Kyou because he was the outcast and they certainly wouldn't be interested enough in him to keep him safe. Shigure thought about this problem as he watch Kyou listlessly watch the snow begin to fall. He had forced Kyou to go out and play, again, but Kyou just sat on the ground.  
  
"Shigure, it's been a while."   
  
Shigure turned and smile at the longhaired man. "Good afternoon, Kazuma. How are you?"  
  
Kazuma's face held something like pain and Shigure thought it odd that his older cousin would feel any such thing. "I...I heard about Kyou. The rumors are flying like wild."  
  
"Kazuma, I know it's a lot to ask, but I have to be at the banquet, soon. Would you keep an eye on Kyou while I'm gone? He doesn't require much attention, he's pretty well able to take care of himself, but I don't like him being alone. He hasn't cried for his mother yet, and I'm afraid he'll explode once I take my eyes off him."  
  
Kazuma watched Kyou for a moment, his face not betraying any emotion. "Yes, I'll look after him."  
  
Shigure wasn't sure what had happened between the two while he was at the banquet, but whatever it was must have been something important. When he emerged from the banquet, Kazuma had been waiting for both him and Akito. Kyou was with Kazuma, with more life in his eyes than Shigure had seen in all the time he'd spent with Kyou. There was fire in those amber eyes, now, even as he hung onto Kazuma's arm.  
  
"Akito-sama," Kazuma bowed respectfully to Akito, who leaned on Kureno's arm. "I'd like to take Kyou. I have plenty of room at my dojo and it would be nice to have a child around."  
  
Shigure was stunned by the request. He knew how afraid Kazuma had been of his grandfather and he had been the last person Shigure would have thought of to take Kyou. Apparently, Shigure wasn't the only one who was surprised. Akito's eyes widened for a moment. "You want HIM?" He gave little Kyou a look of pure disgust.  
  
"Yes, Akito-sama." Kazuma said simply. "Unless you know of someone else who wants him."  
  
Of course, there was no one else. Akito gave his permission, as if there was any doubt. Kazuma's dojo was a fair distance from the estate, so that would mean Akito wouldn't have to look at the cat, and he could trust Kazuma to keep Kyou safe. Cat or not, outcast or not, Kyou was a Souma and Akito took his responsibilities to his family very seriously. No one was allowed to hurt them...except Akito, of course.  
  
So, by the end of the third night of New Years, Momiji was formally adopted by Hatori and Kyou was formally adopted by Kazuma. The formal adoptions were to avoid legal trouble in the future. Akito managed to pull enough strings to keep the police and newspapers from looking to closely at the death of Hiroko or why a prominent businessman like Takano would suddenly give up his only son to one of his cousins. 'Keep family business within the family.' Was a highly approved of family motto.  
  
Two years later-  
  
America, Maine-  
  
Leon Orcot, age 15-  
  
Leon grew up dirt poor. His family was so poor that Leon had done without a lot of things as a child, everything from dentist visits to sneakers. He didn't really know he was poor, though, not until after he started going to school and realized how much the other kids had. Leon and his mom lived in a small white clapboard house on the coast of Maine where there was always something to do. Leon spent many happy childhood hours playing in the forest behind the house or walking on the rocky shoreline, looking for things the storms brought in.  
  
Leon's dad used to live with them, before he went to jail and made Leon the man of the house. That had been so long ago that Leon didn't even remember his dad. The house only had two bedrooms and one bigger room that had a kitchen at one end and a living room at the other. The whole house was heated with a single cast iron stove, which Leon spent spring, summer, and fall building a wood pile for. He would come home from school and start chopping wood before he even did any homework.  
  
Leon's mom was everything he wasn't. She was kind, patient, beautiful, and gentle. Leon always got into to much trouble for fighting at school and he lost his temper very easily. Despite the differences, Leon loved his mom more than anything else in the world. He grew up with the idea that he had to take care of her, she was a woman and men were supposed to protect women.  
  
There was no way, however, that Leon could protect his mom when she needed it the most. Because he was so useless and weak, Leon's mom died one cold night during a blizzard.  
  
Leon's mom died when Chris was born, the younger brother Leon had been eagerly awaiting. With the winter gale howling outside like some insane wolf on the hunt, Leon had sat with his mother and waited for an ambulance to come after she'd gone into labor. They didn't have a car and Leon was to young to drive, even if they'd had one. They waited while Leon's mom started to cry from pain. They waited while the storm grew worse and made the windows shake. They waited while Leon's mom sank to the floor and clutched at her distended belly, praying so softly that Leon could barely hear what she was saying.   
  
She started bleeding just after her water broke and Leon didn't know what to do.  
  
He had long since gotten used to being fairly independent, and Leon had always done his best to take care of his mom, but this time Leon was almost soaking with sweat from fear as he held his mom's hand. He didn't feel at all brave and wished for a miracle. He wished that the ambulance would somehow be able to make it through the snow.  
  
Right then, feeling so helpless and weak, Leon hated his dad. Hated him for getting his mom pregnant when he wasn't even going to be around to help. It was his dad's fault that all this was happening. 'He knew he was going to be in jail, why did he have to get her knocked up? There's to much blood. There shouldn't be so much blood just for one baby, should there?' Leon ran one hand through his fair hair while the other held tightly to his mom's hand.  
  
"Leon, sweetheart," Leon's mom looked up at him with tried eyes. "Go get the phone, Leon. Call 911. The baby's not going to wait anymore." She broke off and squeezed her eyes tightly shut, grimacing with pain. "Get the phone!"  
  
Leon quickly did as he was told. The operator did her best and tried to coach Leon to help his mom, but there was very little he could do to help. There was so much blood and Leon couldn't help but feel sick when he had to look at his mom's...privates. It was just weird and icky, even if he was trying to help her. The baby came fast enough, and Leon managed to catch his little brother without dropping him. He even managed to not throw up when the afterbirth came out of his mom and landed in a messy pile on the floor. The 911 operator told Leon how to clear the baby's throat and nose so he could breath and then how to cut the umbilical cord with a pair of scissors. He cleaned the baby off with a clean towel, just like the operator had told him to and looked down at the still reddish baby with a flickering smile.  
  
"Mom," Leon dropped the phone when the baby was finally safe and he smiled down at his mom. "Mom, he's all right. It's a boy." Leon inched his way over to his mom's side and showed her his new brother, proudly.  
  
"Good...good." Leon's mom looked strangely pale by that time, but she smiled back at him. "His name is Chris. You be sure to tell everyone, all right?"  
  
"Sure, mom." Leon finally felt his heart start to beat at a more normal pace, now that all the excitement was over, and he held his brother tightly. Everything was going to be all right.  
  
"Sweetheart," Leon's mom moved herself so she was laying down and she rested her head on the floor. "There's bottles and formula in the kitchen. Why don't you take Chris and get him something to eat. If I know babies, he'll be starving in just a little while. I'm just going to rest for a minute. I'm so tired."  
  
Leon nodded and went off to do as he was told, never guessing that by the time he got back, his mom would be dead.  
  
When Leon came back, her pulse was still and she wasn't breathing. Dead. Leon set Chris down in the big, flowery chair his mom loved, and got back onto the phone with the 911 operator. He told her what had happened and, after the operator muttered, "Dear God," she told him to wait as best as he could. The ambulance was still on its way. The snow was holding it, and all other traffic, up. She promised it would be there as soon as possible, but Leon hung up before she could say anything else.  
  
Dead.  
  
She was really dead.  
  
Chris was crying. Leon turned away from his mom's body, still laying on the floor, just as if she'd fallen asleep like she said she was going to, and picked up Chris. He looked down at Chris and wondered what would happen to them. 'Mom was right, he's hungry.' It was kind of a numb thought, one that floated across Leon's mind and blocked out the horror before him.  
  
After that, everything was a bit fuzzy for Leon. Time seemed to pass very slowly and it seemed like forever until Chris had finished his bottle. By that time, it was dark outside and the cold was starting to seep through the walls. Leon knew he'd have to go out into the storm for some more firewood. "Time for bed, Chris." Leon stood up and walked around his mom without looking at her.  
  
Leon spent the next four hours in his bedroom. He didn't venture back downstairs, for fear of seeing his mom.  
  
With Chris fast asleep in the large basket their mom had put in Leon's room, so the two boys could share the room, Leon sat on his bed and looked out the window. Outside, the night was pitched black, so Leon knew the storm was still raging. There was no moon or stars to light the night and only the distant boom of a lighthouse's foghorn broke the quiet. Leon was grateful for the foghorn. It made everything seem more...normal. Leon's eyes were starting to burn, so he rubbed at them to stop himself from crying. He couldn't cry now. He had to be a grown up, for Chris. Chris was depending on him.  
  
To distract himself, Leon picked up the letter he'd opened hours ago, before he'd heard his mother yell for him when she'd gone into labor.   
  
~Dearest Leon,  
  
It's been quite a while since I've written and I must apologize for that. It got very busy around here when Hatori finally graduated from Medical college. I must say, and maybe I'm bragging, but he's the finest doctor in all of Japan! He graduated years earlier than everyone else, he's so smart! Smiles Can you tell I'm proud of him? He graduated first in his class and there were three hospitals that wanted him to work for them. Three!   
  
It's a bit of a pity, though. Don't get me wrong, Hari will throw himself wholeheartedly into his new career and the Souma family will be in the best of health, thanks to him, but he's had to give up his dream of being a painter. I'll admit, but don't tell Hari I said this, Hari never was a very good painter. He tried very hard and even worked an after school job so he could afford to take lessons without asking for family money, but it didn't help much. Hari just doesn't have much talent and that's something one really needs to be a great artist. As much as I love dear Hari, he never would have made any money from his art, he's a much better doctor than he was a painter. Still...he was so very happy when he was painting.  
  
He threw away his easel a few days ago. Isn't that awful? He told me there was no point in keeping it anymore, since he never had time to paint. I suppose he was right. Hari always knows what's right. 'The family needs a doctor more than an artist.' That's what he told me, anyway. Hari said the family needs someone to take care of Akito-sama and that he wasn't any good at painting, anyway. He hadn't done a single picture since he told Akito-sama that he was going to medical school and asked for tuition. You know, though, he did a painting for me? He painted a peony. Just a single, pink and white peony. He said he saw it in the koi pond just outside his house and he thought I'd like it. Hari's so sweet. That painting hangs on the wall of my bedroom and I'll keep it there always, even if it is rather ugly. It looks beautiful to me because Hari did it.  
  
Let's change the subject, shall we?  
  
How are you doing in school? I know you said you didn't like it, but you must do your best. Study hard! I'll be looking for you one day, Leon, and I want to see that you're wonderfully successful. I opened my store the three weeks ago, did I mention that yet? I call it 'Ayame', just like me. I make the most beautiful clothes and I think I'll have to go back to school and thank my home ec teacher for all those lessons. The business isn't doing well, yet, but it's only been a little while. I know I can do it! I'll show the rest of the family I can survive and make it without the family's money. I can do it all on my own.  
  
Tell me everything, Leon. Tell me what's going on in your life, I want to know.  
  
That picture you sent me was horrible! How can you even think of wearing such clothes! Honestly, you should come to Japan one day and I'll make you a lovely new suit. I think you'd look good in greens and blues, it would compliment your eyes so nicely.   
  
Oh, by the way, I've decided that it's time for you to learn Japanese. Since I can speak pretty well in English, it's time that you learn my language. Someday, I want you to come visit me, so you have to learn how to talk over here. I'll give you a word every time I write, then you use the word somewhere in your letter back to me. It'll be fun! Here's your word: Aka. It means red.  
  
Write soon, Leon.  
  
Yours truly,  
  
My sweet, amazing self,   
  
Ayame~  
  
'Well, at least Ayame's his normal self.' Leon thought, glancing at the photo of Ayame he had sitting on the desk beside his bed. The silver haired boy looked back at Leon with a bright smile on his face. It made Leon feel a bit better to read about Ayame's life, just to know that there was someone out there who was happy and cheerful. Not that Ayame was always happy. Ayame told Leon everything, even about how his own mother had died in childbirth and how he was worried that his guardians might be abusing his little brother. He didn't have any proof and was afraid to say anything for fear that he might be wrong, after all, he was hardly ever allowed to see his little brother, even when he was at home.  
  
'I guess we have something in common now.' Leon realized. 'Both our moms died giving birth to our little brothers. I wonder if that would make Ayame happy to hear I'm just like him?'  
  
Ayame was like no one Leon had ever met. The older boy was flamboyant, outgoing, intelligent, and had long silver hair. That last fact was enough to get Leon's attention, he'd never known anyone who was as wild as Ayame seemed to be. Despite the fact that Ayame was about four years older, Leon had come to like him quite a bit since they'd started writing to each other years ago.   
  
Leon swallowed hard and set the letter carefully back down before he reached over to turn out the light. No help was going to come tonight, he may as well get some sleep.  
  
As he lay down, Leon tried very hard not to think about the corpse downstairs.  
  
The ambulance and police arrived sometime during the night and Leon woke up to the scream of sirens. He was glad to wake up from the nightmare of his mother's death and what the future was going to bring.  
  
The next day-  
  
Of course they couldn't have the wake at Leon's house. Leon never knew his mom had so many friends or family until the wake when his aunt carefully dressed him in a little suit and told him to just stay quiet during the ceremony. He nodded and spoke politely to the guests as they arrived, even though Leon didn't know a single person there, except his mother's sister and brother-in-law. His aunt and uncle had visited sometimes, but not often. He had understood before, in a distant sort of way, that his aunt and uncle were quite a bit richer than Leon and his mom. However, it wasn't until he'd been taken to their Boston home that Leon really knew what that meant and he wondered if he and Chris would be staying with them.  
  
The wake was held in a very respectable funeral home in Boston. The floors were lavishly carpeted and there were heavy velvet curtains over the windows as if they were afraid someone would peek in. At the front of the large room, Leon knew his mom was lying in the open coffin. It was set up like a show and Leon hated it. It looked like they were going to have a show, the way they set his mom up. He'd taken a look at her, earlier and was shocked to see her with her hair done up in a fancy style and was wearing a very expensive looking white dress. Leon knew his mom had never owned anything like that. There was also make-up caking her face. Leon had never seen his mom with make-up and he didn't like the way she looked with it. She just didn't look natural.  
  
The service went on smoothly enough, though Leon found himself getting angrier and angrier as it dragged on. Why hadn't they just buried his mom back home? She loved their house and always said she wanted to be buried in the back garden.  
  
When it was finally over, Leon sat quietly in the back of his uncle's large, black car while they rode back to his aunt and uncle's house. His cousins and Chris had been spared the chore of attending the wake, the excuse was that they were all to young to understand, and had been left with a baby sitter.  
  
It was at the house that Leon exploded. His aunt and uncle were sitting with their friends and family in the parlor, everyone talking about Leon's mom. Leon wasn't with them in the room, he was in the hallway where he sat on a chair, staring out into the night. They probably didn't know Leon was even there, but with the parlor door open, he could hear everyone very clearly. He could only see his own reflection. How strange to see himself in a suit and die with his blonde hair combed so neatly. It didn't seem right.  
  
"I heard you're going to take in the little one." A voice Leon didn't recognize said. He knew it had to be someone in his family, on his uncle's side most likely, but he wasn't ambitious enough to turn away from the window. "Chris is his name, right?"  
  
"Yes," Leon's aunt answered. "I can't bear for him to go to a foster home, we'd lose track of him. If he ever got adopted, we'd never seen him again."  
  
"That's so kind. Of course, the father's certainly no use and Leon's still a kid, himself. Do you think you'll take Leon, too?"  
  
At that, Leon looked up sharply, but still stared out the window. He hadn't known there was a chance he might not stay with Chris. They couldn't separate them, right? They wouldn't separate brothers.  
  
Leon's aunt had other ideas. "I doubt it. He looks like his father, you know, and I never could stand my brother-in-law. That good for nothing left my poor sister in that shack with no help or money and a child to look after. Then, when she goes to visit him in the prison, he goes and gets her knocked up again. I don't think I could hate him anymore if he'd murdered her with his own bare hands." She paused a moment. "Leon's going to go to be put into state care. It'll be better that way."  
  
"We've got children of our own and now Chris...we just can't afford Leon." Leon's uncle paused. He needs help, serious help. That means therapy and we can't afford it. It's for his own good that we give him up. Maybe someone else in the family can take him."  
  
"You know that won't happen. Especially not after that spectacle and God forbid his father have any family that might take him." Leon's aunt said bitterly.  
  
Leon watched his reflection in the dark window as he listened to the gossip. He listened and said not a word as his face grew darker and his thought clouded with anger. 'They aren't going to let me stay. They're going to send me away from Chris.' That was when Leon had lost control of himself and put both fists through the window, shattering his own hated reflection.  
  
Everyone had come rushing in at the noise and they'd found Leon kneeling in the chair, with both fists still outstretched from when he'd broken the window. Blood dripped from his clenched hands and he slowly turned to the audience he had gathered. "I won't let you take him!" He hissed through his teeth, suddenly hating his aunt and uncle and all the other relatives gathered around. "Chris is MY brother and you can't have him!"  
  
Leon could barely remember what had happened after he said that. His uncle had seized him under the arms and dragged him upstairs while Leon fought as hard as he could, screaming that he wouldn't let them take Chris from him. It was kind of foggy. Red fog. Red like blood. Through that red fog, though, Leon screamed, "Let me go you bastard! You fucking bastard, I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU!"  
  
"Shut up!" Leon's uncle hauled him upstairs and to the bedroom Leon had been using. "Making such a scene, you should be ashamed!" The older man had Leon by the collar and by the arm, dragging him into Leon's room where he tossed Leon onto the floor. "You'll stay here till you can control yourself and that foul mouth of yours!"  
  
Enraged to the point that he didn't care what happened anymore, Leon instantly jumped to his feet and charged his uncle. They struggled for a moment before Leon was thrown back against the far wall of his narrow room and his uncle slammed the door closed and locked it before Leon could even get to his feet again.  
  
Still furious and not thinking very clearly, Leon hurled himself at the locked door and pounded his fists against it as hard as he could and, not for the first time, wished he'd hit that growth spurt his mom had promised him. He was still scrawny and thin to do much of anything but make a lot of noise. "Don't you take my brother!" Leon screeched. "He's my brother, he has to stay with me! Let me out!"  
  
There was no answer, not that Leon stopped his tantrum long enough to hear. He went on like that for as long as he could, wishing that he could somehow get through the heavy oak door. It was a useless wish.  
  
Eventually, Leon wore himself out. Panting for breath and fighting tears, Leon stared at the unmoving door, glaring at it hatefully. His hands were starting to hurt and Leon belatedly looked down to see why they were hurting.  
  
'Blood. Where did that come from?' Leon raised his hands up to his face and watched blood trickle from the slashes on his hands down his wrists and into the cuffs of his shirt. It didn't hurt as much as Leon would have thought it would. "Damn it!" Leon cursed as he looked around to see what he could use as a bandage. The room became blurry and Leon hastily wiped tears from his eyes, but managed to smear his face with his own blood. "I'm NOT going to cry! I'll show them. I don't need any kind of therapy. I'm fine. I'm just fine."  
  
After he had wrapped his hands up in two t-shirts he'd brought with him when his aunt and uncle had arrived to take him and Chris to Boston, Leon sat on the bed and took a piece of paper from a notebook.  
  
~Dear Ayame,  
  
I need to talk. I don't know where to start. My mom died. They're taking my little brother away from me. I don't know what to do. You can't write to me for a while, I don't know where they're going to send me. I'll write when I can.~   
  
Leon rubbed at his burning eyes again before he continued writing.   
  
~What am I supposed to do? Ayame, I'm scared.~   
  
Leon stopped writing and looked down at what he'd written. It looked so childish. He had a sudden urge to tear it up and throw it away. Ayame always wrote him such beautiful letters and he sounded so sophisticated. Leon didn't like how pathetic the letter made him sound. Still, he didn't rip up the letter. If there was one thing Leon and Ayame had agreed on long ago, it was that they would always be completely honest with each other. That was why Leon valued his friendship with Ayame so dearly, Ayame never lied to him. 'And I won't lie to him.'  
  
~Your friend, Leon~  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Well, readers, there you have it. Kyou has made his grand entrance and Leon has suffered the scaring of his young life. Ah...I do love torture.  
  
To the reviewers, thank you all so much for taking the time to comment, it means a lot to me.  
  
Melchior: Thanks for the compliment, I hope you enjoy the rest of the story, too.  
  
Dragonic Ice: I'm very pleased to get such an intense reaction from you. I have most of the story planned out, so I hope you like the rest of it as much as you do the beginning.  
  
Star: Don't worry, this fic is going to go up to present time in the anime/manga. Yuki, Kyou, Haru, everyone will be there. I just had an urge to write the history of the family.  
  
Zeynel: Yup, Leon is finally in the story...took long enough, didn't it? Poor, poor Akito. Yes, he is slowly growing into the deranged young man we all know and love and Shigure seems to be suffering as he watches the change, doesn't he? As for Ren, well...  
  
Kireina: I'm glad you like Petshop of Horrors. It's my all time favorite manga. Wait till the later issues, they get better. I've got them all in Japanese, so I can't wait for the English translations. If you really like Petshop of Horrors, there is an anime of it, about an hour long. Personally, I think it's a little to serious, you don't get to see Count D's playful, flirting side. However, it is better than nothing. I'm rather hoping that they'll make a series for Petshop of Horrors one day. Kureno was a hard character to do, since there's almost no information about him. I liked him, though.  
  
Evilcacklinhippyoverlord: I'm glad you liked how Ren was handled, but are you sure she's really gone? She wasn't killed after all, Akito just sent her away. As for Leon and Ayame's friendship, they have something very important in common.  
  
Magical Mage: So glad you enjoyed it. Yes, it took a long time to get to the actual crossover, but it's here now.  
  
Ayako: Yes, Ren should have seen it coming. I never said she was smart, now did I? Abuse is a cruel cycle, they say. As for Akito, I think he's been taught his whole life that the family depends on him, needs him. He would obviously come to be protective. However, since he's not quite stable, he takes that to the extreme. He'll protect them, but he's going to demand absolute devotion as payment. They have to love him. If they don't, he'll make them. Sigh...I think Akito may be my favorite character, besides Shigure.  
  
Bishonen Chaser: I liked Yahiko, too. I was rather sorry to kill him, but he was created to be killed. Besides, he had a good death. I'm glad to have changed your opinion about my darling Akito. I love him to pieces. :) You'll have to wait to find out about Ren, though.  
  
Muchacha: Glad you enjoyed it, I love a good tragedy, too. One of my favorite Shigure moments in the anime was at the very end, when Kyou transformed. Shigure suddenly wasn't a clown. He was on his knees, crying, begging Tohru to help his family. He was desperate to save his family. I loved that moment, all the more because it was a good 'serious' Shigure scene.  
  
Sarlinia: It's hard to describe Kureno. He's a Souma, so he's absolutely beautiful, naturally. He almost seems normal, but the strange thing is that he's ALWAYS with Akito. Apparently, Akito gets 'uncomfortable' when Kureno's not with him. At least, that's what I've been told. I only have the Japanese language version, so I'm not entirely sure that's the right translation. I'm pleased that you liked this chapter. It was very hard to get it right. I think I erased it about three times before I found a Kureno that I liked.  
  
Merei-chan: Gone? What makes you think Ren is gone? (Giggles wickedly) Oh, sure, Akito chased her off with Kureno's help, but is she really gone for good?  
  
Myrrh: I sure will keep it up. I hope I can keep this interesting enough that you'll want to read it to the end.  
  
Syazerg: No, I can't just kill Ren. Hee, hee. That would be to kind. For what she's done to my darling Akito, Ren must suffer. I'm not going to let her off that easy.  
  
Star: As you can see, Kyou has finally made his appearance. He's actually going to get a rather important role in the story, but you'll have to wait to see his big scene. Yes, a bit of Shonen Ai. You can already see it from Ayame's point of view, concerning Hatori. I'll give you a hint...keep an eye on Shigure.  
  
Iibaru: Yes, a good part of Akito's personality can be blamed on Ren. Ren's not the brightest light bulb in the basket, if you catch my drift.  
  
Caiti: The D of the past will be explained, there's good reason he doesn't seem like the D you've read about in the manga. If you keep reading the manga, you'll find out something 'unusual' about Count D's family. That's a hint. Count D who imprisoned the Souma family was actually very accurate. I apologize for not giving a better answer, but that'll ruin the story if I do. It'll all be explained in future chapters.  
  
Arin Ross: I promise, I update as soon as I can, but I hate leaving short little one page chapters. I like to post something substantial and good, so it takes me a week or two. Glad you like it and thanks for reviewing. New Years was hard to do, since no one really knows what goes on and the Junikyu won't tell. It seems to me that with all the Hell they go through every day of their lives, they deserve one day a year with no worries. They don't have to worry about bumping into someone, about being a 'freak', or what anyone thinks of them. It's very simply a night of fun. Don't worry about Ren, she'll get exactly what she deserves.  
  
Anonymous: Wish I knew your name. Well, whoever you are, thanks for writing. I was hoping you'd hate her. That was the whole point of her character.   
  
Ran Mouri: Kyou will definitely be more in the story. He's going to be one of my major characters. I'm glad you like Akito. I was trying to create a little sympathy for him since most people seem to just see him as an insane maniac.  
  
Tri: Thanks for the compliments. Kureno's not a very well known character, since he's not in the anime and very little is known about him. I liked what I saw of him, though. The English translated manga is coming out in February, I think. We'll all get to see a lot more of this wonderfully twisted family, then. I'm glad you liked how Yahiko died, I do try to make you readers cry at times like those. It had to be or we wouldn't have Haru.  
  
Aori Tsuki: Yes, Yahiko had to die. Tohru will be in the story, she just hasn't met up with them, yet. Give her time. Actually I rather like Tohru. She's one of the very few anime girls who's feminine, sweet, kind without seeming overly sugary. She's got her faults. Count D will come in more, too, especially now that Leon's getting more involved. Well, I like the Kyou/Yuki pairing, but I just love the older generation of Souma's, Shigure, Ayame, Hatori, ect.  
  
Grrl N: Glad you liked it. Yes, so many Souma's had to die, but it had to be. I rather wish I could have kept Yahiko, he turned out even better than I'd hoped. I'm glad you feel that way about Akito, I was trying to get some sympathy for him.  
  
Sakura Avalon or Kinomoto: I'd be pleased to take a look at your fics. It's the least I can do since you left me such a kind review.  
  
Shigure's fangirl: Glad you're enjoying it. :) I hope you enjoy the rest of the story, too.  
  
Umi-chan2: Thanks for the review and all the lovely compliments. I'm also very glad you like how I did Shigure. He's my favorite character. I can't tell you who Shigure ends up with! That would be cheating! On the other hand...maybe I should make it a little more obvious. Yes, this story will continue until present day when Yuki, Kyou, and Tohru are in high school and living with Shigure. Don't worry, Papa D will be taken care of. I never liked him much, either.  
  
Ssjgoddesschiro: I love Yaoi, too. I don't do smut, but there's almost always at least a hint of Shonen Ai in my stories. Petshop of Horrors is my all time favorite manga. If you think the first two are good, just keep reading. Trust me, they get better as the series goes on. Actually, I do mostly crossovers, I just love them.  
  
Again, to all reviewers, thank you for taking the time, I really do appreciate it. Hope to hear from you all again soon.  
  
Till next time,  
  
Cousin D 


	9. Wished to Die

Petshop of Horrors X-over Fruits Basket   
  
A/N- I realize many of you don't know the story of the Petshop of Horrors. This first part is for those of you who don't know it, yet. If you know how Leon met Count D, feel free to skip it.  
  
Long Denied  
  
Chapter 9: Wished to die  
  
Year: 2002  
  
Akito: 21  
  
Ayame: 26  
  
Shigure: 27  
  
Hatori: 26  
  
Yuki: 15  
  
Momiji: 14  
  
Hatsuharu: 14   
  
Kureno: 27  
  
Kagura: 17  
  
Rin: 17  
  
Ritsu: 17  
  
Hiro: 12  
  
Kisa: 12  
  
Kyou: 15  
  
Tohru: 15  
  
Leon Orcot: 22  
  
Chris Orcot: 7  
  
San Francisco, California-  
  
We sell love, hope, dreams, and happiness.  
  
If you choose to break the terms of the contract, we can not be held responsible for the results.  
  
Welcome to my petshop. I am Count D.   
  
This is China Town. A mysterious place filled with rare and valuable commodities. Tonight you shall find something you desire.  
  
Leon-  
  
Leon Orcot knew there was something suspicious about that petshop. He could feel it in his bones, even as he sat in his car and stared at it from where he was parked on the opposite side of the street. Leon took a drag on his cigarette and looked again at the papers he'd brought with him, just to be sure. All his facts pointed to this petshop as being the only logical connection between all the murder victims, but no one else had picked up on it.  
  
Shaking his head, Leon wondered how such an obvious fact could be missed by absolutely everyone. Sill, he was glad. This was the kind of thing that could make his career. He could finally get out of that shabby little apartment he'd been in since graduation high school and maybe even buy himself a new car with the promotion this would bring. So many people had died and each and every one of them had been a recent customer of this petshop.   
  
The latest victim had been that guy who looked like he'd been torn to pieces by something. Leon felt sick just remembering the crime scene. Something terrible had happened there, even if it had been to one of the top contenders for China Town's Mafia. Liu Tai Wei hadn't been a nice man, of that Leon was dead certain. He had his sticky fingers in everything from prostitution to drugs and there were more than a few mysterious deaths that had been linked to him. Perhaps Liu Tai Wei had gotten what he deserved, especially after that little girl had been strangled in his house.   
  
Again, Leon shook his head. It wasn't his job to decide if Liu Tai Wei should have died. He just had to find out how the man had died. Just asking around the neighborhood, Leon had found out that this particular petshop had a great reputation for being able to supply nearly any kind of exotic pet and Leon wondered if that also included dangerous pets. A few of Lui Tai Wei's close associates reported that he said he'd bought a tiger from this petshop.  
  
The owner was Count D, though why a count would be working as a shopkeeper, Leon just couldn't figure out. 'Let's get moving.' Leon told himself, snuffing out his cigarette and taking a deep breath. He was here completely on his own, without any kind of authority, which meant he was also without back up if this was something big. 'Drugs, I'll bet.' Leon had learned from experience that drugs were behind almost everything. It was made even more likely by the knowledge that Lui Tai Wei had been into drugs. Perhaps that was how the two of them had met in the first place.  
  
Leon Orcot, detective at only twenty-two years old, was very proud of himself and took his job very seriously. After spending most of his past few years in foster homes and group homes, Leon had learned to take care of himself. He had learned the hard way not to depend on anyone and he had learned that he could do almost anything if he put himself to it. After all, Leon had worked two part time jobs through high school to earn the money for college when most of his classmates were busy chasing girls or out at parties. Leon studied hard. He might not have been at the top of his classes, but he was far from the bottom.  
  
'I'm certainly smart enough to deal with some China Town punk who thinks he can get away with murder!' With that last little pep talk, Leon confidently got out of his car and began to make his way across the street. He ignored all the curious stares coming from the people of China Town, focusing on the very ordinary looking building.  
  
He couldn't help but feel, as he got closer and closer to the petshop, that he should turn around and leave. He should forget this lead and find some other connection. The building was...wrong. It wasn't just a building...  
  
'Stop it!' Leon shouted at himself. 'It's just a damned petshop! Stupid China Town, it's getting the better of me.' Leon didn't like China Town. There were to many weird rumors floating around and to many secrets. There were tales of magic and mystery that just couldn't be true. Leon didn't like magic. If he couldn't control it, Leon didn't like much of anything. More than anything else, Leon hated not being in control. It made him feel weak.  
  
He found that the doorway of the petshop opened up to a set of stairs that led down to where the shop was. The stairway was lit with several lanterns hung from the slanting ceiling, just high enough that Leon didn't hit his head as he walked down. The lanterns cast foreboding shadows on the walls, but Leon ignored them as best as he could. Walking up the stairs, Leon saw a man walking with a little girl, probably his daughter. The girl was carrying a birdcage with a small blanket covering it. Curiously, Leon lifted the little blanket and peeked in at the bird.   
  
"Cute bird." He told the kid before continuing on. The minute Leon opened the doors of the petshop, he had the distinct feeling that he wasn't welcomed. "Hello?" Leon pushed open the heavy doors and looked in cautiously. The place was huge and looked very expensive. There was what looked like a parlor or sitting room with a sofa and a few high backed chairs in the only well lit part of the room. Beyond that first room, Leon could see a few doors that must have led to the rest of the petshop. "Shoot." Leon muttered, seeing that there was no one around. "No one's home." Still, if there was no one here, that meant no one could stop him from just poking around a little to see if there was any evidence of...  
  
There was a soft footfall and Leon froze, turning to see a figure walked gracefully out of the darkness. Greenish hair fell to the shoulders of this strikingly beautiful person and cast a stark contrast with skin as white as porcelain. Dressed in an ethereal looking outfit of pale blue with large pink flowers all over it, Leon knew that he'd never seen anyone so beautiful in his life. Hands clasped before the person showed off nails that were almost two inches long and painted dark pink, looking more like elegant talons than fingernails. Even this person's lips were painted, dark purple that looked almost black against the to pale skin.  
  
"Shit. You scared the heck out of me." Leon tired to sound at ease, but it didn't sound quite as relaxed or carefree as he'd hoped it would.  
  
"Welcome. We have everything from dogs to cats to birds to insects to reptiles. What can I do for you?"  
  
It took a moment for Leon's eyes to adjust to the dim, smoky atmosphere of the petshop, but when he did the...person was still there. The person was real and not some hallucination. Couldn't be a man, no man was that beautiful. Couldn't be a woman, it was far too masculine. The voice was definitely male and Leon felt a part of his settle. Very male voice, despite the weird dress and long hair. No, it wasn't quite a dress. It was more like a robe and Leon could see that the man was wearing dark pants under the robe when he moved slightly.  
  
Leon didn't like the intense gaze the strange man had fixed on him and he walked away slightly, more to give himself something else to look at other than that single purple eye staring at him.  
  
"There have been a string of unnatural deaths. All of the victims were customers of this petshop. I hear this petshop is a cover and your real business is the human trade, drug dealing, and Chinese terrorists. The petshop is suspected of selling animals prohibited by the Washington Convention."  
  
Strange noises drew Leon's attention away from the man for just a moment. It wasn't the ordinary sounds one would think of coming from a petshop, but then, this wasn't a normal petshop. Even as Leon quickly glanced around, looking for the source of the shrill cries and unfamiliar chattering noises, he saw no animals. There were cages and glittering eyes peering out at him from behind the bars of the cages, but he saw no animals. There also wasn't the usual smell of sawdust or other animal smells. The petshop actually smelled quite nice, like some kind of spice Leon was sure he'd smelled before, but just couldn't recognize. The air was foggy, and Leon realized that the smell must have been coming from incense from the braziers hanging from the high ceilings.  
  
It felt like he'd walked into another world.  
  
Leon showed his badge to show his authority to Count D, but the reaction wasn't what he was hoping for. Instead of at least mild panic, Count D almost seemed amused.  
  
"You must be mistaken. We do not handle such species here."  
  
"Shut up!" Leon hated it when people tried to be smart with him. This...this weak pansy was just playing with him! Leon felt his legendary temper start to boil. "It's not worth discussing with you. Where's the owner?"  
  
"I'm afraid my grandfather is out of town. I am tending the shop in the meantime."  
  
"Then tell me what you sold to Liu Tai Wei. Don't try to lie to me. I know he frequented your shop. Right?!"  
  
Count D gave Leon another amused smile. "Yes. We did sell him an animal. A tiger."  
  
It was a shocking confession and Leon's felt his mouth fall open for a moment as his professionalism deserted him. In all honesty, he hadn't expected Count to just come right out and tell him something like this. "I knew it." He muttered to himself, even as he stared at Count D's still smiling face. The man wasn't even worried and that irritated Leon more than anything.  
  
"If you'd like, I'll show it to you." Count D turned and looked at Leon over his shoulder to see if he would follow. "He didn't like it and returned it to us."  
  
"What?" This was all going a little to fast for Leon. What kind of maniac just showed a live tiger to the police after admitting that he'd practically killed a man with it? No...that couldn't be. Count D said Liu Tai Wei returned the tiger. So how...?  
  
"Right this way." Count D walked over to one of the large curtains that hung over the walls of the petshop and pulled it aside so Leon could see behind it. "The only tiger we have here."  
  
Leon wasn't at all amused by what he saw. It wasn't a tiger at all, but a painting of a tiger walking through a bamboo forest. "What...what is this!?" Leon couldn't help his fury at this obvious criminal making a complete fool of him. "You bastard! You scum! You'll see me again." It was all Leon could do to turn around and start walking out of the petshop instead of attacking the Count. "I'll get you next time!" Even to Leon it sounded like a line out of a really bad old cop movie.  
  
He stomped out of the petshop, glad to be out of there. The smell of the heavy incense had been starting to make him sleepy and he didn't like all those strange noises that seemed to come right out of the shadows at him. Trying to forget what he'd felt in that place and how beautiful Count D had been, Leon made his way back to the police station.  
  
Count D-  
  
Count D watched the young police detective leave and he smiled. 'How cute.' He thought. 'He believes he can punish me for something. Humans...how amusing.' A faint grumbling noise caught Count D's attention and he turned to the painting of the tiger. "Yes." He whispered comfortingly. "Yes, it's all right. Time for you to rest now. You'll know when you're needed again."  
  
The tiger, painted in black and white, blinked at Count D once before it's image faded away, leaving nothing more than the bamboo forest Lui Tai Wei had bought. The tiger would rest until it was bought again.  
  
And that was how Leon met the most extraordinary person, Count D. It was also the beginning of the strangest, most intimate friendships Leon would ever have.  
  
Japan-  
  
Yuki-  
  
"I won't have this, Yuki. I won't have you irritating Akito and making us look like unfit parents. You will behave yourself!" Yuki's foster mother scowled blackly at him as she stood next to her husband. Yuki wondered if they had a right to be so angry. He hadn't done anything really wrong, just gone out for a walk alone. Yuki didn't sat stiffly on the couch of his family's home and watched them carefully, though he said nothing for a while. He was so tired.  
  
"You know the rules!" Yuki's foster father thundered, his deep voice carrying through the house and Yuki wondered if the people outside could hear the yelling. "You aren't to go out alone. Akito-sama likes to keep you close, he sent for you when you were out and we had to tell him we didn't know where you were. Do you have any idea how bad that made us look!?"  
  
Yuki didn't care. Why should he care if they looked bad in front of Akito? He was the one who would have to go sit with Akito and he was the one who would have to listen to Akito's ravings or endure that damned whip Akito had gotten from somewhere. Worse still, Yuki was the one who would be locked in that room until Akito thought he could behave.  
  
"I don't want to see him anymore." Yuki said, speaking up for the first time since he'd arrived home and his foster parent's had begun yelling at him. He knew the consequences of his words and, perhaps, he had even been hoping for the reaction he knew he would get. Yuki would find a way to escape them. He would escape everything and he would finally escape the curse.  
  
"You're Akito-sama's favorite, you should show more gratitude!" Yuki's foster mother told him, scandalized that Yuki would say such a thing.  
  
"I don't care." Yuki felt his breath start to quicken, but it would take more than this little argument to start the asthma attack he was hoping for. Yuki screwed up his courage and looked straight at his foster father. "I hope Akito decides you aren't fit parents and he gives me to Hatori." That was all it took.  
  
They were furious.  
  
The blow came from his foster father who still stood off to Yuki's left, his heavy hand slamming into the side of Yuki's head like a brick. Yuki could have dodge the blow or blocked it, Kazuma had trained him very well, but he didn't bother. Compared to Kazuma or Kyou, Yuki's foster father was pitifully slow.  
  
The backhanded blow knocked Yuki into a wall and he fell dramatically to the floor after a frighteningly bright flash of light blinded him when his head hit the wall. He felt his lungs compress and hid a smile of satisfaction. He really shouldn't be happy to bring on an asthma attack, should he?  
  
"Damn it, Tashei!" Yuki's foster mother swore. "You've cut him! Look at his forehead. What are we going to tell Akito? He wanted to see Yuki as soon as he came back."  
  
Yuki's foster father was silent a moment. "We won't. Just tell him Yuki isn't feeling well for a few days. We'll say his asthma's acting up and he can't see anyone. He's a strong kid, he'll heal fast."  
  
"Hatori-sensei will want to see him."  
  
"We'll think of something. With luck, Akito will have forgotten all about Yuki. Maybe he's gotten sick again and Hatori will be busy tending him. We can hope."  
  
Yuki, in his still dazed state of mind, found the fact that they hoped Akito had gotten sick again highly offensive. He wanted to hurt them, wanted to defend Akito. How strange. 'I hate him. I love him.' It was all to confusing, but Yuki had never been able to find any kind of logic that would explain how he felt about Akito. It wasn't right to love someone who was so cruel and hateful. It wasn't right to hate someone who gave everything for him. Nothing could explain how Yuki felt about Akito. It couldn't be hate and it couldn't be love, but it was definitely a powerfully passionate emotion. 'I wish I could hate him, maybe then I could leave. Love couldn't hurt like this, though. No sane person would love someone like Akito.'  
  
They'd made Yuki go to bed and told him he wasn't to leave the house. That wasn't a problem. Yuki hadn't been planning to leave. Even as his chest began to tighten with every breath, Yuki pulled a key out of his pocket and locked his bedroom door from the inside. There...safe. The asthma attack was coming on just as Yuki had thought it would, it usually did after a physical trauma. Yuki went to his bed, but instead of sitting on it, he slid down to the floor and sat with his back against the bed.  
  
Very slowly, Yuki pulled the string that hung around his neck, the string with his inhaler on it, and lay it on the floor beside him.  
  
He just didn't care anymore.  
  
It wasn't that he was depressed or angry...he simply didn't care. He felt so tired all the time and didn't want to deal with anything.  
  
Yuki had decided that a natural death was best and he would let his own body's defects kill him.  
  
That was why Yuki sat in his room with his inhaler on the floor beside him as he wheezed, his body struggling to breathe, even as his heart wished to die. He made no effort to even reach for the inhaler, but tried to relax as he hoped death would find him quickly. Death was something he'd been thinking about for a long while, but he never seemed to have the courage to do it before.  
  
He was fifteen years old and even Yuki knew all the legends of the cursed Junikyu. He was one of the gems of the family, or so everyone would have him believe. Yuki didn't believe it. He was scrawny, sickly, and a liar on top of everything else. How could anyone think he was anything special?  
  
'Fifteen. I should be allowed to have my own house.' Yuki knew that the rat's house was his, by all rites, and if he told Akito he wanted it, he would be allowed to have it. 'I'm a coward. Not even brave enough to leave. Why should I leave my parents? They're all I have.' Yuki hated admitting that he was afraid to leave them, even to himself. If he did leave, they couldn't hurt him anymore. But...he'd still be alone. What difference would it make?  
  
'No one can love you but me.' Isn't that what Akito had said? 'You're a freak. You can't get close to anyone. Just like me. You're just like me.' Akito had said it so tenderly, so gently as he'd hugged Yuki close to him that day. It made Yuki's flesh crawl at the time.   
  
That all happened a long time ago, after the day Yuki had cried himself into exhaustion, begging Hatori not to take his friend's memories. Hatori, though, knew his duty and hadn't been swayed by Yuki's tears. Yuki knew, that day, that he would never let anyone get close to him again. Caring about people hurt to much. It hurt watching his friends be carried away because of what Hatori had done to them and knowing that it was his fault. It hurt knowing that it was his fault Hatori had been bedridden for three days with a migraine for his mistake.  
  
'No more mistakes.' Yuki thought. 'I'll never make another mistake and no one else will ever be hurt for me.' There was no chance that his parents would find him like this; his death would be disaster for them. Yuki was old enough now to understand he was nothing more than a tool for them and they used him to get all their rich things.  
  
Yuki felt a surge of cold delight that they would lose everything when he died. Akito wouldn't let them keep all their fine things, the big house, or the servants. It was a great satisfaction to know they'd suffer after he died.  
  
-Wheeze!- Yuki's lungs pained him as they struggled for air, but Yuki still didn't reach for his inhaler. He put both hands on his lap and leaned his head back, onto his bed, as he closed his eyes. He could almost feel his life slipping away and that made him happier than he'd been in a long time.  
  
'If I'd been braver, then I could get away from them. I could have run away. Maybe things would be different if I had been away from them.' But Yuki wasn't brave, he had never been. He'd always been afraid when he tried to tell Akito he wanted to get away from his foster parents and just couldn't say a word. He was to cowardly to even tell Hatori that his foster parents hurt him sometimes, even when Hatori asked. 'I could stop them, if I wanted to.' Yuki knew he was stronger than both of his foster parents were, Kazuma had taught him to fight on a request from Hatori who said it would benefit his health. He didn't have the courage to fight back, though. They were his foster parents and what if he really hurt them? What if he killed them?  
  
That thought sent a chill down Yuki's spine. Sometimes, he wanted to kill them. He wanted to hurt them so badly that his fingers itched to wrap around their throats and start squeezing till they turned purple and died. 'I'm NOT a bad person! I don't want to hurt people.' It sounded like a lie, even to Yuki. 'Even if I asked for my own house, the rat's house is right next to Akito's house. What if he wanted to see me every day? What if he made me stay in that room every day? I can't do it.'  
  
The whole problem, as Yuki saw it, was that he was lonely. It sounded so pathetic when he thought about in that simple term, but it wasn't pathetic and it wasn't simple.  
  
He was lonely and there was no way to stop the loneliness.  
  
Yuki couldn't seem to get out of the habit he'd been trained in. Making friends had always been discouraged, so Yuki had never learned how. He hadn't been encouraged to make friends with even the other cursed Junikyu and, for the most part, only saw them once a year. When he was a child, Yuki remembered watching them all play together and he watched them go off to school together while he was driven to a private school some distance away. It didn't seem fair. Why should he be so alone? To top it all off, Yuki didn't like talking to people, it made him afraid that they'd see how weak he was.  
  
Really, the only person who talked to Yuki on a regular basis was Hatori and that was mainly for his medical exams. Well...Hatori and Haru. Yuki wasn't sure how he felt about Haru. Haru was sort of a friend, at least he didn't treat Yuki as if he were some kind of prized pet. Haru wasn't entirely sane, Yuki had realized the first time he'd seen Haru's 'black' personality explode into life, but Haru was generally pleasant.  
  
'He probably only hangs around me so he won't have to go see that therapist. He couldn't really like me. No one could. I guess I won't have to worry about it anymore. Now, I'll never have to feel lonely or afraid to make a mistake.' Yuki almost smiled at that thought. 'Death. It sounds...comfortable.'  
  
"You aren't like the rest of them." Yuki's foster mother, Yoko, had told him. "You're special and Akito-sama wants to keep you near him. You want to make Akito-sama happy, don't you? You have to always stay near him."   
  
Yuki knew he was Akito's favorite. 'So why does he...' Yuki shook his head at that thought. He knew why Akito did what he did, he was sick. Hatori had explained that often enough, even when he had stitched closed a two-inch long cut in Yuki's back closed because Akito had grown cross and pushed him down a set of stairs. That had been when Yuki was younger and he hadn't had Kazuma's training to break his fall.  
  
Akito had apologized and cried about how sorry he was, but Yuki hadn't forgiven him. Not really. Why should he? Being sick wasn't all that much of an excuse. There were sick people all over the world who didn't hurt people, so why should Akito be forgiven?  
  
Yuki's favorite days were when Shigure visited. Yuki was always grateful to see his older cousin stroll onto the estate and casually walk into Akito's home. He would stay there almost the entire day and sometimes into the night. When Shigure visited, from wherever he lived, no one else was called to sit with Akito.  
  
Though he would never admit it to his flippant cousin, Yuki rather admired Shigure's courage. Shigure alone, out of all the family and all the cursed Junikyu, never crawled to Akito. He never begged for anything and never asked favors. Shigure could tell Akito the truth about anything and he wasn't afraid.  
  
Once, Yuki had wished he had Shigure's courage.  
  
Now, though, Yuki sat in his room and hoped to die. It was possible, Hatori had once warned him, to die from a severely bad asthma attack. It wasn't likely, but it was possible. The hard part about the whole plan was that Yuki's athma attacks were growing weaker as he grew up and, strangely, that was the problem. When he was younger a single asthma attack could have killed him.  
  
This asthma attack wasn't enough, Yuki realized. It was painful, but Yuki knew it would subside with or without his inhaler soon enough. He needed something more.  
  
Yuki reached under his bed where he kept something he'd stolen a few weeks ago. It had taken that long to build up the courage to use these, but today was the day. He'd stolen the cigarettes from Hatori, sneaking them when he'd gone over for a visit and found no one home. Smoking, Hatori had told him, was the worst possible thing for his body.  
  
So Yuki pulled out a cigarette and wondered if one would be enough or if he'd have to use up all six. He lit the cigarette with a match from his foster parent's fireplace and took a deep breath, sucking in as much of the noxious, poisonous smoke as possible. It hurt and Yuki had to struggle not to cough when the smoke hit his lungs, making them spasm. He breathed out only when he had to and winced at the horrible taste. He wondered why Hatori smoked so often, if it was always this bad. Still, the cigarette had the desired affect and Yuki felt his asthma attack get worse almost immediately.  
  
  
  
Yuki took a few more drags from the cigarette before lay down on his bed and rested his head on his pillow. He thought about extinguishing the cigarette, but kept it in his hands just in case he needed a few a little more to kill him.   
  
Unfortunately, his mind drifted back to one of his visits with Akito when he was far younger.  
  
Flashback-  
  
"I won't let you escape." Akito had muttered when he seized Yuki by the collar and hauled him to that dark room. "You can't ever go away from me. I won't let you leave me, again." Once, and only once, Yuki had risked a look at Akito's eyes and was more frightened by what he saw than the dark room he was brought to.  
  
"I...I won't leave you, Akito." Yuki whispered, trying to keep up with Akito who, despite his bad health, was surprisingly strong. He wanted to calm Akito, maybe if Akito calmed down...  
  
"You dare?!" Still holding Yuki's collar, Akito whirled around suddenly and slammed Yuki into a wall. Now, both of Akito's hands grabbed the front of Yuki's shirt and pinned him to the wall. "You left me! You promised and you lied!" Then Akito burst into tears and rested his face on Yuki's chest.   
  
Yuki was, even at that young age, a very good fighter. Kazuma never trained anyone who didn't turn out at least a decent fight, but even with how frightened he was, Yuki didn't try to fight to get away from Akito. If he hurt Akito, even by accident, it would be a terrible thing. Akito was sick, Hatori had told Yuki long ago. He had to try to be nice to Akito, because he was sick.  
  
"How could you lie to me, Junko? How?" Akito wept.  
  
Yuki had learned, long ago, not to correct Akito when Akito when called him Junko. That only resulted in Akito flying into another temper and probably hurting Yuki. "I'm sorry." Yuki said, keeping as still as he could. He didn't want to upset Akito anymore than he already was; Akito was to scary when he acted like this.  
  
"Sorry...sorry...you'll be sorry. Sorry you left me. You made me cry." Akito took a deep breath and lifted his face from Yuki's chest, their noses were only inches apart and Yuki really didn't like being so close to his temperamental God. "Pretty Yuki. I think you look like me. Not a little boy anymore." One of Akito's hand drifted up and touched Yuki's cheek and he stared deep into Yuki's eyes. "You're almost grown up. Almost." His eyes were far away; as if he was looking at something in Yuki that wasn't really there. "We're both almost grown up. What happens then?"  
  
Yuki swallowed hard and his fists tightened at his sides. Akito scared him so much when he was like this.  
  
Then, Akito was off again, nearly dragging Yuki along until they reached that hated room. Yuki didn't try to dissuade Akito, not at this point. It would be useless.  
  
"You'll be safe here." Akito told Yuki when he pulled the door open and looked at Yuki. "Safe. I'll take care of you. I won't let anything hurt you." His voice, so different than only moments ago, was strangely gentle.  
  
"Please, Akito, don't make me go in there." Yuki began to shake. He hated that room, but he hated the way he was acting even more. He was ten; there was no reason for him to be acting like such a coward! He was practically a grown up, he should be able to handle a few hours in a small dark room. A very small dark room. Yuki even hated walking down the halls of Akito's house, the corridors were so narrow and he felt as if they'd close on him and squash him.  
  
"But I have to keep you safe." Akito walked behind Yuki, a place Yuki really didn't want Akito, and put both hands on his shoulders. "It's my responsibility." He looked into the dark room. "I like the darkness. Everything around me is dark. If no one can see you, no one can hurt you."  
  
"I'll be safe at home." Yuki protested, even as Akito applied pressure to his shoulders and began to push Yuki into the room. Though Yuki knew he would end up obeying and would spend the day in the room, he couldn't help but drag his feet. "My mother..."  
  
"Is dead." Akito's voice was almost careless. "Ayame cried for hours."  
  
"Ayame?" Yuki had no idea what his cousin had to do with this. He rarely even saw Ayame. He tried to push away the hurt he felt when Akito spoke so callously about his dead mother and focus on why Ayame had been mentioned. Akito didn't care about the rest of the family, only the cursed Junikyu.  
  
"Oh, didn't anyone tell you?" Akito raised an eyebrow as if he really were surprised. "Ayame's your brother. Now you be a good boy and stay here, Yuki." Then he left Yuki alone in the small room, locking the door behind him.  
  
With the door closed, the darkness seemed to press to close to Yuki and he immediately huddled on the floor with his arms wrapped around his knees. He hated feeling so helpless. He could get out. He was strong enough to break the door down and even kick a hole through the walls. Training with Kazuma had given him that strength, but Yuki didn't. He stayed where he was on the floor with his eyes clenched shut and completely silent.  
  
'No one told me.' Yuki felt numb. 'Ayame never told me. Why?'  
  
Hours later, Yuki opened his eyes when he heard the door slide open. In the dim light of the open door, there stood Hatori dressed all in dark. He seemed to blend in and Yuki met Hatori's eyes, almost frightened by what he saw. He saw himself in Hatori. Cold...distant...Yuki realized at that moment that Hatori had given up his life for the family, for Akito. He had known that Hatori became a doctor for the benefit of the family and had known that Hatori, like most of the cursed Junikyu, had a terrible childhood. But he hadn't understood until just that moment how empty Hatori was. Well...not empty, exactly. He knew Hatori cared.  
  
"Are you hurt?" Hatori asked in his normally hushed tone, stepping into the room.  
  
Yuki shook his head, standing with some effort. He'd been in a crouched position for quite a good time and now his body was aching.  
  
"Akito's just gone to sleep." Hatori said, putting a hand on Yuki's arm. "Go straight home. I'll take care of Akito."  
  
Yuki nodded his thanks, but he didn't do as Hatori told him to. Instead, Yuki went to the back of the estate. It was dead silent in the middle of the night and Yuki had no problems finding his way to his favorite spot on the estate.  
  
There was a beautiful garden he'd found outside the old abandoned house at the back of the estate. It was the one house he'd been forbidden to go to, so he went there whenever he had the chance and there were such beautiful wild flowers. It looked as if the garden had once been lovingly taken care of; it was so peaceful and calm. Now the garden and the house had been completely forgotten, by all but Yuki. That night, Yuki had lay down in the flowers and stared up at the stars sparkling though the tree leaves.   
  
'Someday, I'll have a garden of my own. When I get away from them all and when I can do whatever I want, I'll have a beautiful garden.'  
  
End of flashback-  
  
It hurt Yuki to admit it to himself, but he'd had never seen an ounce of love in his foster parent's eyes.  
  
Of course he knew he was adopted. He'd heard stories about his real mother from the other cursed Junikyu at the banquet every New Years. He knew his mother had died when he was born, though no one had ever mentioned his father, and that Yoko and her husband had kindly offered to adopt him. It was really only at the New Years banquet that Yuki had a chance to see and talk with all the other cursed members of the family.  
  
Thinking of the lavish party that ended and began every year, Yuki lifted the still burning cigarette to his lips and took another lungful. It was getting harder to breath by the moment.  
  
  
  
Yuki hated the banquet.   
  
He hated sitting almost all night with Akito and watching him sleep while everyone else had fun. When Akito did finally fall asleep or Shigure came to sit with him, Yuki was allowed to mingle with everyone else, but that was just as bad. He hated seeing Hatori dote on Momiji, swinging the little blonde hare in his arms as they danced. Hatori always wore the same colors, black and grey, in his ceremonial robes. Momiji always wore yellow and gold. They made quite the combination as they danced.  
  
Hated watching Kagura wax poetic about her 'beloved' Kyou who was outside somewhere, doing whatever he pleased. Kagura had always fascinated Yuki. She knew what Kyou was, had seen his original form, yet she still loved him. She was more devoted to him than any princess was to her prince in a fairy tale.  
  
He hated seeing Rin dancing with Hatsuharu, totally enthralled with each other, as if they hadn't a care in the world. They were both tall and lithe, graceful as unearthly spirits while they stared into each other's eyes. Yuki knew that Haru had a crush on him, he didn't bother to hide it, but that didn't seem to damper his affection for Rin.  
  
He hated seeing little Hiro and Kisa playing together in a corner, closer than Yuki had ever been to anyone. The two were the youngest of the cursed and had taken to each other almost as soon as they'd met. Hiro was a very intelligent, quick-witted boy, though for gentle Kisa, he'd do anything. Yuki wondered if the two of them would end up like Rin and Haru.  
  
More than anything, though, Yuki hated Ritsu. Yuki was sure that he hated Ritsu even more than Kyou. After all, Kyou had really done nothing to him, other than call him names and yell at him. Ritsu, though, had quite innocently stolen Ayame away from Yuki.  
  
'That's unfair to Ritsu.' Yuki reminded himself. 'Ritsu couldn't take what was never mine and he wouldn't have done it on purpose, anyway.' Yuki hated seeing Ritsu dancing with Ayame, and how happy the two looked as they sat together and played with each other's hair. He tried not to let it show, tried not to let poor Ritsu find out. 'Ritsu's about as harmless as any Souma ever was, he'd never deliberately hurt anyone.'  
  
It wasn't Ritsu's fault, after all, that Ayame loved Ritsu more than he loved Yuki.  
  
Jealously, that's all it was, pure and simple.  
  
Yuki understood that Ritsu idolized Ayame and that Ayame was doing his best for a family member who didn't have a father, since Ritsu's father had mysteriously vanished some years ago. It was only when he was with Ayame that Ritsu looked really happy and Yuki knew how horrible it was of him to begrudge Ristu for that.  
  
'But I could have loved Ayame, too. If he'd let me, I'm sure I could have love him. He could have done his best for me instead of Ritsu.' Yuki hated himself for those kind of thoughts. They were petty and shameful. 'I shouldn't be so selfish. I don't care about him anymore, anyway. He's nothing but a fool with cotton for brains. He's to silly and too much energy. I could never keep up with him.'  
  
Ayame had never looked at Yuki with even kindness, let alone love. He'd confronted Ayame about it, once. That hadn't gone well. It was hard to find time to talk to Ayame, without anyone around, but he'd managed it when Ayame had come to visit Hatori. Yuki had been sick for a long time and he was just getting well when he heard voices coming from Hatori's living room. He recognized them all. Shigure was talking and laughing about something. Hatori said something dryly to which Kana replied in a much more passionate tone. Then Ayame spoke and Yuki finally got the courage to do what he'd wanted to do for a long time.  
  
"Big brother?" Yuki had whispered tentatively, standing in the doorway of Hatori's living room. Everyone looked at him, surprised to see Yuki out of bed, but it was Ayame's head that shot around as quick as lightening and stared at Yuki with an expression of something close to fear. Yuki stepped a little further into the room. Ayame did look like him and Yuki had wondered why he'd never noticed it before. "Big brother? May I sit with you?" Yuki had looked at Ayame with so much hope, desperately wishing for just a tiny show of affection.  
  
Ayame stood very quickly and nearly bolted out of the room, his long hair swirling in his haste to leave. He was practically running to get away from Yuki.  
  
Yuki didn't cry. He watched Ayame dart through the open doors of Hatori's house and speed away until he was no longer in sight. Yuki realized that he wasn't worthy of being loved, right then. If his own brother couldn't love him, then who could?  
  
"Yuki?"  
  
Yuki looked up and saw Shigure standing near him. "Yes?" Shigure frightened Yuki sometimes, but Yuki wasn't sure why. It seemed that, when he looked into Shigure's black eyes, that Shigure was thinking of some great, terrible secret.  
  
"Ayame doesn't mean to hurt you..."  
  
"He doesn't." Yuki said brusquely. 'He does.' Yuki walked away, back to the infirmary part of Hatori's house and got back in bed. He wouldn't cry for Ayame. Yuki understood well enough that life hurt and it was better to get used to it than to spend all your time crying. 'I won't try anymore. I don't care what he thinks of me. I won't ever care about him.'   
  
Yuki listened for a time to Hatori and Shigure, they sounded like they were arguing about something, then there was silence.  
  
In his own room, Yuki shook his thoughts to get rid of the memories. They still stung painfully and he didn't want to be reminded of them. -Wheeze!- Yuki winced as an especially painful breath took him by surprise. It wouldn't be long, now.  
  
He became uncomfortable sitting on the floor and moved to lay down on his bed. If he was going to die, then he should at least be comfortable for it, right?  
  
  
  
Hatsuharu-  
  
Haru missed Yuki.  
  
It was more than just missing the quiet rat, Haru needed someone to talk to and Yuki was quite possibly the most sensible person Haru had ever met. Yuki didn't talk much, but when he did it was almost always important. Actually, the first person Haru would usually go to for advice was Momiji, but that wasn't really possible. Momiji was the reason Haru needed to talk to Yuki.  
  
It had only happened two days ago, but Momiji was still crying.  
  
Kana had left. Well, saying that she'd 'left' was a little to kind. She'd run away. Not literally and not exactly run away, but she had left. Haru remembered seeing her being carried away from Hatori's house and everyone watching. Hatori had stood with Ayame on one side of him and Momiji on his other side when Kana left them. With her memory of Hatori gone, she had no reason to stay and Momiji was dealing with abandonment issues, again. Not only had his mother and father abandoned him, but now Kana had left, too.  
  
'Momiji acts like nothing's wrong, but I've known him longer than anyone. He can't fool me. I'm might be a bit slow, but I'm not stupid.' Haru knew he wasn't stupid because Yuki told him so. 'I heard him crying when they took Hatori to the hospital...'  
  
Hatori had lost his eye, had it taken from him on what was the happiest day of his life. It was the day he'd proposed to Kana.  
  
Haru didn't like thinking about that, but it was the biggest news in the family and everyone had been warned against talking to the police. They'd had to take Hatori to the hospital so quickly that no one had bothered to think of a suitable lie as to what had happened to him. Haru was certain that Shigure would have done the lying, but he'd stayed at the estate to calm Akito who'd gone into a rage.   
  
All of the doctors had been suspicious as to why a gentleman like Hatori, a known and respected doctor at that particular hospital, had suddenly been brought in and refused to talk to anyone except two of his cousins. They'd called the police almost immediately when Hatori had been brought in, afraid that he'd been attacked. Of course, there was no police involvement allowed, by order of Akito and general common sense. The police had come to the estate and spoken with Momiji, since he was the closest family member to Hatori, and then to Akito. Just to be sure, Shigure had been with Akito when the police interviewed him, pleading Akito's ill health as reason for his presence.  
  
They couldn't very well let the police know that it was Akito who'd smashed the large vase over Hatori's face. He'd been aiming for Kana, Haru was sure, but Hatori had gotten the vase in the face and was lucky that he'd only lost one eye. Oh, he could still see from that eye a tiny bit, but no more than shadows.  
  
The police had believed Shigure's story, of course. Shigure was a VERY good liar. The official story was that Hatori had been gardening when he slipped with a pair of large garden shears in his hands and had fallen on them. It was a ridiculous lie, Hatori hated gardening. The police bought it, though, and that was the important thing. They had gone and hadn't come back to the estate, so there was no danger for any of them.  
  
Except that Hatori wouldn't see anyone since he'd come back from the hospital and Momiji was still crying. Besides all that, to keep the incident as close to the inner circle as possible, it had been Haru who'd cleaned up the mess. He was the one who'd had to pick up all that little pieces of bloody, broken ceramic and toss them away.  
  
That was what Haru wanted to ask Yuki about, how to cheer Momiji up. He might not be able to do anything about Hatori, but he sure as anything could do something for his best friend. He'd tried everything he could think of, but nothing worked. Oh, Momiji smiled and acted like nothing were wrong, but Haru knew better. Momiji had thought that he would be getting another mother when Kana had entered their lives. He had fully and wholeheartedly encouraged Hatori's relationship with Kana and now he felt guilty and believed he was responsible for Hatori getting hurt. He'd wanted a mother so badly, a woman who could give him all the love his own mother had been incapable of.  
  
'Stupid.' Haru thought. As if Momiji blaming himself would make Hatori feel better. Momiji was a lot smarter than people gave the little bunny credit for, but he wasn't thinking straight and Haru didn't like it when Momiji was upset. Without Hatori to ask, Haru had faith that Yuki would know what to do.  
  
When he got to Yuki's house, Haru was actually feeling a lot better than when he'd started out. He didn't go to the front door, Haru didn't like Yuki's foster parents. There was something about them that set him on edge. Instead, Haru did what he did every time he went to visit Yuki. He went to Yuki's bedroom window and peered in. The window was high, but Haru was just tall enough that if he stood on his toes, he could see in.   
  
What he saw made Haru's eyes widen in panic.   
  
Yuki's eyes were closed, but he was even paler than normal and there was a terrible cut on his forehead that didn't even look like it had been cleaned. The room was filled with a very faint blue tinted smoke and Haru was shocked to see a cigarette held loosely in Yuki's fingers.  
  
"Yuki!" Haru knocked hard on the window, trying to get Yuki's attention, but Yuki didn't move. "Yuki! Can you hear me!" Haru no longer cared if Yuki's foster parents heard him, he was getting angry enough to smash the window to get in, but if he did that, the broken glass would hit Yuki. "YUKI!"  
  
In slow motion, Yuki's eyes drifted open and he turned his head just a little to look at Haru. Their eyes met for just a moment before Yuki closed his eyes again.  
  
'Hatori! I've gotta get Hatori!'  
  
Yuki-  
  
"Yuki?"  
  
Sitting in his room on his bed, Yuki tried not to listen to Haru. Blood dripped into his eye, but Yuki didn't bother wiping it away. A gasping wheeze as his body struggled for air shook Yuki's body.   
  
He just wanted some quiet, why wouldn't Haru just leave him alone? Closing his eyes against the offensive world around him, Yuki concentrated on his breathing. It hurt, each painfully drawn in breath, and Yuki knew it wouldn't be long. It felt like his lungs weren't working, but Yuki had felt this before and wasn't panicked. He remembered previous asthma attacks and how frightened he'd been when he suddenly couldn't breathe.  
  
"Yuki! What's wrong?"  
  
Yuki let his eyes open and he slowly turned his head towards the window where he saw Haru's shockingly white hair and his dark grey eyes peering in. Haru often came to Yuki's bedroom window, asking to play. Yuki would have sighed, if he had the breath. Haru looked so worried and he was the last person Yuki had wanted to worry.  
  
'Go away.' Yuki thought, no bothering to even open his mouth to answer before he closed his eyes again. 'I don't want to play anymore.' His head felt strange, like it was filled with air. 'I'm so tired. Tired of everything.'  
  
To be continued...  
  
Dear readers, I promise Petshop will meet up with Fruits Basket people soon. I swear it. I just enjoy writing long fics and it's fun to torture the Fruits Basket cast.  
  
I'll admit, it was a lot harder to write Yuki than I thought it would be. There's so much written about him, it seems, that I didn't give his character credit enough. Fun, though:) I have no idea if this is what really happens in the true storyline, but I'm making guesses as close as I can from what I've read online and from what people have told me. 


	10. Ayame's Rage

Petshop of Horrors X-over Fruits Basket   
  
Long Denied  
  
Chapter 9: Ayame's Rage  
  
Several days earlier-  
  
Hatori-  
  
'Momiji...crying?'  
  
The first thing Hatori saw, when he woke up, was Momiji's golden hair. Momiji's head was tilted down, his arms wrapped around himself as he quietly cried standing by Hatori's bedside. Momiji, though he acted and looked like a very young child, didn't cry like one. He'd never been one to loudly sob and wail. Instead, Momiji was more apt to do what he was doing now, just let the tears fall silently and try not to let anyone see it.  
  
"Hari? How are you feeling?"  
  
Hatori slowly turned his head and saw Ayame looking down at him, his golden eyes trained on Hatori and intense with worry. Ayame's face was drawn with worry and his eyes were more than a little blood shot. "Tired." Hatori's voice sounded odd, even to him. He couldn't see well, everything seemed to be...off. "My eye..." Hatori tried to reach one hand up, but found it wouldn't move. When he tried to look at his arm, he had to turn his head just to see it. There was an I.V. taped to the crux of his elbow and other wires attached to his arm. "What...where...?" It was only when he looked back up at Ayame and realized that he wasn't in his house. The walls were all white and there was a familiar smell of disinfectants in the air.  
  
Ayame looked over his shoulder at something, but quickly turned back to Hatori. "Do you remember anything? Akito and Kana? It all happened very quickly, I came as quickly as I could, right when 'Gure called me!" Ayame's eyes were watering, as if he would join Momiji in crying. "Oh, Hari...I'm so sorry."  
  
The memories, flooded back at Ayame's words with violent demand to be remembered.  
  
-Kana and I wish to be married.-  
  
-I refuse to allow it!-  
  
-Kana! Get Hari out of here!-  
  
-You think you can break the curse? You're nothing! You're worthless to us!-  
  
There was pain. Akito screaming furiously. Kana's beautiful eyes opened unnaturally wide with fear and horror. Pain. Shigure was yelling, holding Akito back with all his strength.  
  
Hatori gasped, trying to drag himself out of the memory, though Kana's terrified eyes stayed in front of his face. "Kana, is Kana all right?" He couldn't remember anything more than when Kana finally got to her feet and helped him to stand as she started to cry. He must have passed out.  
  
"She's uninjured." Shigure said, though he didn't move from where he stood by the closed door. It was Shigure that Ayame had looked at, before. He still wore his usual dark grey kimono, but his expression was very serious. He'd been worried, too. He was leaning against it and, if Hatori knew Shigure, he was guarding the door so no one would come in and surprise them, they could speak privately. "Akito didn't touch her."  
  
"You're not telling me something." Hatori knew Shigure well enough to tell when his friend wasn't telling the entire truth about something and it made him nervous. "What happened?"  
  
Shigure looked directly at him and there wasn't a sign of the normal good-humor or the carefree smile that was usually on Shigure's face. "Your doctor said you need to rest, Hari. We'll talk after you've had a good sleep."  
  
"Don't treat me like a fool, Shigure!" Hatori was irritated and getting angry, but he could hardly get his voice to rise more than a whisper and he sounded more tired than anything. "What happened? I feel...so...so odd. What happened to Kana?" He didn't want to admit that he was a little hurt she wasn't here.  
  
Ayame looked as if he'd answer, but Momiji started crying again and he leaned down, putting his arms around Hatori, as best as he could. "Hari! I was so scared! I thought you were going to die!" Momiji choked out his words and Hatori knew the boy must have been holding it all in for a while. "There was so much blood when Kana brought you home and you wouldn't wake up, we had to call the ambulance."  
  
Hatori hated seeing Momiji cry, especially about him. He didn't like that Momiji depended so much on him, gave Hatori so much of his love. It made him feel weak.  
  
Hatori reached up, moving painfully slowly, and gave Momiji a weak hug, trying to comfort him. "Hush, now. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine." As he reached up to hug Momiji, Hatori's bare arm brushed against the bandage that was wrapped around half his head. No wonder he couldn't see properly. "My eye?" He shifted his one good eye to Ayame. "What was damaged?"  
  
"Well...Akito hit you with that vase." Ayame started nervously, afraid to break the news. "The doctor said a lot of little bits of ceramic got into your eye and c-c-cut it up very badly. She said...um...well..."  
  
"You've lost your eye, Hari." Shigure's voice was firm and calm, seemingly unaffected by the news. "You may have limited sight, such as seeing light and dark, but nothing else."  
  
Hatori nodded slowly, even as Ayame shot Shigure a poisonous look for being so blunt. Blind in one eye. "I'll survive." Hatori said out loud. "It's only one eye. I'll learn to do without it." There was little else Hatori could do, realistically. No point in getting all upset about it.  
  
The worst part was that Momiji and Ayame had to see him like this.  
  
Shigure continued, "You've just come out of a three hour operation, they had to make sure they got all the little shards out of your eye. The doctor said they want you to rest as much as possible, so we won't stay long. We wanted to be here when you woke, though. The whole family is worried and asked us to send their love."  
  
Hatori wanted to say that Shigure shouldn't have brought Momiji or Ayame, they were both to sensitive and to easily upset. There was no reason either of them should have to see Hatori like this. Wasn't it bad enough that he'd seen Kana crying before he blacked out? So weak and helpless? Oh, Hatori knew exactly what he looked like, dressed in the uniform white hospital gowns with a thick bandage covering half of his face. He knew that he was probably pale and that the medications he'd been dosed up with left his one untouched eye glassy and his skin pale. His mind, although a bit fuzzy, was clear enough to see the worry on Momiji's face.  
  
"Go home." Hatori had said, his voice sounding weak, even to him. He reached out and patted Momiji's hand, which was on the bed, and then looked at Ayame. "I'll come home tomorrow, there's nothing for you to worry about. It was a simple operation, really."  
  
"But..." Momiji bit his lip uncertainly. "But you'll be all alone. I don't want you to be alone. I'll stay here with you, if you want."  
  
Hatori knew he hadn't done a very good job raising Momiji, but he had done his best. Momiji was a sweet boy, though he acted years younger than he true age, and he had a warm heart. Hatori had sometimes wished he'd been able to do more for Momiji, but he had never even considered having children and had no idea what to do when the child had fallen into his lap after his parents had given him up. He'd never thought he would be a good father and Momiji proved him right.  
  
"The doctor's going to be back soon and she'll give me something that will make me fall asleep. If you stay, all you'll be able to do is watch me sleep." Hatori tried to smile, but, from Momiji's expression, it didn't turn out very well. The surgery had gone well, but he was still exhausted.  
  
Ayame, from where he sat on the side of Hatori's bed, spoke up. "I'll stay and watch you sleep, Hari. It's no trouble for me." He gave a dazzling smile and moved his hand to touch Hatori's. "But, I'm sure you'd like to rest a bit, right? You'll be happier if we leave you to get some peace and quiet?"  
  
Hatori nodded gratefully. "It would help me if you'd walk Momiji home. Momiji, I'll be home tomorrow, they'll just want me to stay overnight for observations." He shifted his eyes back to the worried bunny. "I'll worry less with you at home."  
  
In the end, Momiji agreed to leave, but only with Ayame gently urging him along. Ayame paused for a moment by Hatori's bed. "I was worried, Hari." His voice was thick with emotion and he leaned down to kiss Hatori on the cheek. "Please, Hari, you take such good care of everyone around you, please take care of yourself, too."  
  
Hatori knew that Ayame was in love with him, he'd known for a long time. It was pretty hard to miss it. He could see the little signs that pointed out Ayame's infatuation. He never did anything to encourage it, but Hatori couldn't bring himself to completely separate himself from Ayame all together. He was closer to Ayame than almost anyone and it would hurt him deeply to lose that friendship. He needed Ayame.  
  
"I will." Hatori promised, making no sign that he thought the kiss was anything other than one of friendship. He wouldn't let Ayame get his hopes up, but he also wouldn't break Ayame's heart.  
  
As soon as Ayame and Momiji were gone Shigure stepped forward, his smile seeming more forced than usual as he took Ayame's place sitting on Hatori's bed. "The doctor said you should stay here a week. There's still danger of infection and she wanted to check your stitches every day."  
  
"I'm more than capable of taking antibiotics at home and if there are any problems, I'll return to the hospital. There's no sense in me wasting time here when I'm needed at the estate." Hatori kept his voice as calm as he could. He knew he couldn't let Shigure get to him, the dog had a way of manipulating people into doing what he wanted. "I have things to take care of at home."  
  
"Things? You mean Kana." Shigure walked away slightly, moving around the bed, to the window where he looked out at the sky with a distant expression. "She isn't doing well, Hari. Ayame asked Ritsu's mother to keep her in seclusion, she owes Ayame that much after he convinced Akito to force her husband to divorce. Are you sure you want to see her?"  
  
"Yes." How could Shigure even think to ask such a painful question?! Hatori couldn't help but felt a burst of anger at his friend. Shigure had been there, he had been the one who restrained Akito, giving Kana and Hatori time to escape God's wrath. Shigure had seen the blood and the tears. How could he just start talking about Kana so callously?  
  
"She really isn't well." Shigure said, his smile faltering slightly. "I got a call last night, while you were still in surgery. Kana cried herself to sleep. Hari..."  
  
"I know what you're going to say." Hatori turned his face away from Shigure. "You're wrong. She'll be fine. It was a shock for her, that's all. How would anyone react, seeing Akito go into a temper for the first time? She was so happy...she couldn't stop smiling. Did I tell you she almost fainted when I gave her the ring? She smiled so brightly..." His voice trailed away at the memory of Kana's brilliant smile when he'd knelt before her and given her the diamond ring. The memory faded, replaced by the look of horror when Akito had smashed the vase over Hatori's head. He'd looked up, nearly blinded by pain and blood, and saw Kana with her hands covering her mouth and her eyes wide. She looked like she was living a nightmare.  
  
"Maybe." Shigure admitted. "She might be stronger than everyone thinks. She took the curse well, didn't even bat an eye, as I remember. But, Hari, don't..."  
  
"No." Hatori felt his heart start to beat faster with agitation. "I don't want to hear it, Shigure. I believe in Kana. She won't give up on us. We're going to be married. Akito will forgive us, he'll understand. If he doesn't, I'll take Kana and we'll live away from the estate. I won't give her up, Shigure! I love her!"  
  
"Are you sure of that? Can you really leave Akito against his will?"  
  
"You did."  
  
"Yes. And it rips at my heart." Shigure turned away, but Hatori saw a glimpse of true pain in Shigure's eyes before he got a hold of himself. "It's not easy, Hari. I'm always thinking about what's going on at home. Always wondering if I made the right choice. Can you live with knowing that you've left Akito alone without medical supervision? That Akito might hurt someone and you won't be there to help?"  
  
Hatori was silent, hating Shigure for being so sensible.  
  
Shigure finally sighed. "I'll do everything I can to help you." He turned and smiled at Hatori, though it looked like a rather sad smile. "I'll start working on Akito, see if I can get him to come around. He feels pretty guilty about hurting you; he wants to come visit. I don't think he feels badly about Kana being unhappy, though."  
  
"I don't want him to visit." Hatori said quickly. Just the thought of seeing Akito right now made Hatori feel sick to his stomach. "I'll see him when I get home. I just...I just need a little time."  
  
"I know. I'll keep him distracted till you get home." He paused. "He WAS upset, you know. He didn't mean to hurt you."  
  
"No, he meant to hurt Kana." Hatori wasn't at all moved by Shigure's attempt to make Akito look better. It wouldn't have been so bad if Akito had intended to hurt Hatori; Hatori could have lived with that. He knew, though, that Akito had meant to hurt Kana. She was so much smaller than Hatori; Akito might have killed her with that blow. How could he ever forgive Akito for trying to hurt Kana?  
  
Shigure didn't say anything for a long time. He obviously didn't want to say anything against Akito, he never did. Sometimes Hatori wondered about Shigure's true feelings towards Akito. Even when they were alone, Shigure never spoke against Akito. "Do you want me to have Kana at the estate when you get home?"  
  
"No. I'll go see her at the hot springs. I don't want her at the estate without me, anymore."  
  
"All right."  
  
Days later-  
  
It didn't go well.  
  
Kana burst out in tears the moment Hatori walked though the doorway of the hot springs. She sobbed at the sight of his head bandaged and wouldn't touch him. When he tried to touch her hand, she cringed away from him. She didn't even want to look at him and she ran away when he tried to speak to her.  
  
It seemed that Shigure had been right. Kana had been destroyed by this and the self-hatred was eating her away. It was hard to love someone who was cursed and she'd been as strong as she could, but it just wasn't enough.  
  
Hatori knew what he had to do, even without Akito's urgings. Akito had called him and spoken so sweetly about how Hatori should take Kana's memory if he loved her.  
  
"It's especially at times like this that your techniques become useful, don't you agree. We both know her memories should be erased. Before now, I doubt you'd have even hesitated. At this very moment, it's her memories of you her feelings of you that cause her to suffer. You're the only one who can save her. You can put an end to her suffering. It'll be your final act of love, Hatori. The truth is that she wants you to release her. The truth is that she wants to forget."  
  
Hatori could have hated Akito just then. How dare Akito speak of Kana when it was his fault that Kana was in so much pain? Akito didn't have the right to decide what was best for Kana! Akito didn't even care about Kana, he'd have killed her if he'd had the chance! No...Akito had every right. Akito was the head of the family, he was God. He had the right to do whatever he pleased.  
  
Besides all that, Akito was right.  
  
"It would have been better, if we'd never met!"  
  
Kana DID want to forget. He WAS the only one who could save her. The final act of love...  
  
  
  
So Hatori had gone to the hot springs again, making sure that there would be a few women to help Kana after he was done with her. She was so pale and lifeless when he saw her. He'd had her brought to one of the empty rooms in the hot springs and stolen her memories. Without even the energy to cry anymore, Kana had stared at the floor when Hatori approached her, not looking up at him. She looks to pathetic, kneeling on the floor before him. Hatori hated seeing her like that, she didn't seem like the vibrant Kana he fell in love with.  
  
Hatori reached down and slid one hand over her almost vacant eyes. "Thank you, Kana. Everything will be all right now. You won't have to be troubled for me any longer. I hope that one day you'll meet someone who can make you truly happy. It's my dearest wish." It was all Hatori could do not to cry as he said that. No man should have to give up the one he loved and then wish she found another.  
  
"Hatori, I'm so sorry. I wasn't able to protect you. Forgive me."  
  
Hatori went cold at her words. She loved him. She really did. She loved him so deeply and so completely that she couldn't bear to see him in any kind of pain. It would kill her. Those words made Hatori's heart break. She was sorry for something that wasn't even her fault, sorry for seeing the truth of their twisted, dark family. That truth had frightened her so badly that she was losing her mind.  
  
Hatori opened his mind and let his connect to hers. Through touch and a bit of concentration, Hatori could connect his mind to any other person's and then it was only a matter of searching for the memories. He didn't just steal the memories, he could see memories, too. Not thought, exactly, but only memories. It was hard to describe. 'Stealing' memories was far more accurate than when people said he 'erased' them.  
  
Memories don't just disappear; they have to go somewhere. The memories of people that Hatori had to steal, he took into himself. So every painful, terrible moment that was associated with the cursed Souma family was stored in Hatori's mind. He could feel it all as if he were the one who found out her son turned into a rabbit, or that a friend turned into a rat, or that a crush turned into a snake when hugged. He remembered every moment of fear and every disgusting moment when a person thought to use their loved one to make money like a sideshow freak or to just kill the monstrous thing.  
  
Kana's memories were just as beautiful as they were painful. His heart ached when his mind and soul were filled with her memories of their first meeting and he knew that she'd loved him from the moment she first saw him. He could feel her love for him and understood how that powerful love was destroying her now. She needed to be free of it, if she was going to live, she had to be free from the overpowering emotion.  
  
Kana slumped limply to the floor and he knew she was gone. Gone from his life forever. She would wake up in a short while, thinking that nothing was out of the ordinary except for a slight headache. He, however, would never forget.  
  
Hatori turned away from Kana and walked out of the room. Best to just leave quickly, try to forget her. 'I almost wish I could. Why am I the only one who can't forget?' Hatori was the one who had to bear all the terrible memories, there was no one who could take his. It seemed very unfair.  
  
'But I love her, and I always will. I'll hold our love, our dreams forever. I'll never let them die.'  
  
The next day-  
  
"Hatori! Hatori, let me in!" There was a hard knocking on the door and Hatori's eyes fluttered open. He didn't want to move, didn't want to listen to the fear in Hatsuharu's voice. Why wouldn't anyone let him sleep? Hadn't he suffered enough? "Hatori, it's an emergency. Please!"  
  
"Haru, leave Hari alone!" Momiji's voice scolded and Hatori felt guilty again. Momiji had suffered at loosing Kana, too, and even now he was trying to protect Hatori against his best friend. "He's tired."  
  
"Fuck that!" Hatsuharu's voice turned very suddenly harsh and Hatori groaned, knowing that Black Haru had come out. "Yuki's hurt and he looks like he's dying, if Hatori won't come out, I'll drag his ass out!"  
  
Hatori threw open the door, having jumped out of bed the moment he'd heard that Yuki was hurt. Still dressed in his pajamas and bare footed, he glared at Black Haru with his one working eye. "Take me to him!" Together, the three of them made their way across the estate as fast as they could. Hatori carried his black, leather medical bag and wore a thin robe over his pajamas and knew he must have looked quite the sight, but he really didn't care. He'd lost one loved one already; he wasn't about to lose Yuki, too.  
  
By the time they came to the home Yuki shared with his foster parents, Hatori had worked himself up to a rage. He jabbed a finger at the closed front door and snapped an order at Hatsuharu. "OPEN IT, NOW!"  
  
Hatsuharu didn't reply, but he dashed ahead of Hatori and Momiji, smashing in the door with a single kick. Hatori marched in, taking no notice of the started couple who ran into the hallway to see what had made the door crash in.  
  
Both of Yuki's foster parents, Yoko and Tashei, came rushing out to the hall, obviously having heard the crash. "Hatori-sensei, what are you...?" Yoko asked. Her voice and guilty expression made Hatori's blood boil. He knew that Hatsuharu never lied, but she made it all the more obvious that she was hiding something from him.  
  
"Hatsuharu, keep them out of my way." Hatori ordered, knowing that if Black Haru chose to, he could kill both of them, easily. Right now, he didn't care. They didn't understand the utter loneliness of being cursed. To lose even one member of the cursed family, was tragedy. Hatori didn't know Yuki well, Akito and Yuki's foster parents had made sure that no one but Akito could get close to Yuki, but he knew enough that Yuki could seriously be dying. His health, although greatly improved lately, was not good. Hatori didn't even pause as he made his way to Yuki's room with Momiji and Hatsuharu close at his back. He tried the door but it was locked from the inside. "Haru."   
  
Hatusharu needed no more prompting. He took the doorknob in one hand and gave it a savage twist, breaking it and sending a crack down the wooden door. Hatori took one look into the room, at Yuki laying prone on the bed with a still burning cigarette on the floor from where it had fallen out of his fingers, before he shot another order at Hatsuharu. "Go get Shigure. Tell him to come to my house. Go now!"  
  
Hatori was at Yuki's side before Hatsuharu went, his heavy boots thundering as he ran out of the house and to Shigure's home. The room was filled with an almost blue cigarette smoke, a sure death for an asthmatic like Yuki. He was also bleeding from a sever cut on his forehead. Yuki's eyes opened when Hatori lifted him, but closed after only a second. Yuki was very thin, he always had been. Even Hatori, who wasn't the strongest of men, could lift Yuki as if he were nothing more than a baby.  
  
"What-what do you think you're doing!" Yoko put herself directly in his path, blocking the doorway. "You can't just take our son, Hatori-sensei. Doctor or not, he belongs to us."  
  
Apparently, with Hatsuharu gone, they thought they could act brave again. Hatori's eye narrowed. "Belongs? He isn't a pet. Get out of my way before you make your fate worse."  
  
"Are you threatening us?" Tashei put himself next to his wife and looked down at Hatori. He was a large man, he'd spent years working as a professional boxer, but Hatori wasn't afraid. He felt a surge of disgust that this little man would put himself between Hatori and the welfare of one of the Junikyu. He had to get Yuki out into the clean air.  
  
"Yes." Hatori started walking forward, not pausing, even when they didn't seem like they would move. "Do you think Akito will be happy when he hears you've almost killed his favorite?" That made them both move out of the way. Cursed or not, all Souma's feared the wrath of Akito with the possible exceptions of Shigure and Kazuma. Hatori made his way out of the house, leaving the foul excuses for parents behind him. "Yuki will no longer be your responsibility. I'll have his brother take custody of him if no one else will have him."  
  
"You can't do that!"  
  
"Watch me."  
  
Later-  
  
Shigure-  
  
When Shigure got home that day from a long meeting with his emotional editor, he was horrified to find Rin sitting in his living room, with a book on her lap, reading intently. It wasn't just any book, it was THE book. The diary of the Souma family dogs. He snatched the heavy book out of her thin hands before she even noticed he was in the room and closed it quickly.  
  
When Rin looked up, her eyes were hard. "You knew."  
  
"What are you talking about? This little book? It's just a work of fiction." Shigure smiled, setting the book back on a bookshelf as calmly as he could. "I was modeling the family after ours, but I doubt it'll ever get published. It's far to depressing."  
  
"Liar." Rin stood up, her willowy body moving gracefully. "That wasn't your handwriting, not at the beginning. This is an old book, the pages look a hundred years old, at least. You know about the curse, this book looks like it tells everything. How could you keep this to yourself? How could you do that to the rest of us!?"  
  
"You're confused, Rin." Shigure kept smiling as he took her arm and showed her to the door. "That book wasn't real. You mustn't believe everything you read, you know."  
  
At the door, Rin wrenched her arm away from him. "I didn't finish reading it. If it's just a book you're writing, let me finish it. Let me read the end. I want to see what happens."  
  
"No. I'm sorry, but I just can't stand to let people read my unfinished work. Maybe when I decide what the ending should be, I'll let you see it. For now," He lowered his voice and put his face close to hers. "I suggest you forget what you read. No one would ever believe you if you tried spreading rumors that I, of all people, know the secret of the curse."  
  
Rin glared at him before she turned away in a huff and strode away.  
  
'Stupid.' Shigure rushed back into the house and grabbed the precious book off the shelf. 'I didn't think any of them would come prowling around the house. I'll have to find a better hiding place for this.' Of all the worst people to find the diary, it had to be Rin. She had more drive than most of the family and wouldn't think twice about hunting down a person she thought had done her a wrong. If she found this Count D, he would surely kill her or use her to trap the rest of the family.  
  
When he'd found a better hiding place for the book, Shigure went out to sit on his front porch. He knew Rin wouldn't forget this and she could be trouble. He didn't have long to think about the problem, though. A frantic yell caught his attention.  
  
"Shigure! Shigure!"  
  
Surprisingly, it was Hatsuharu running at top speed down the path that led to Shigure's front door. Shigure shook his head. 'I'll have to stop thinking of him as a child. He's an adult, really.' Strangely, unlike many of the Junikyu, Hatsuharu hadn't chosen to claim his own house when he'd turned ten. His parents were very patient and loving, even with his unpredictable temper, and Hatsuharu was actually pretty close with them.   
  
Hatsuharu, Shigure admitted, was far smarter than people gave him credit for. Though he was normally slow moving and quiet, Hatsuharu was very observant. He was a very good judge of character, even if he looked like he ought to be on his way to a sleazy nightclub. His hair was black and white, just the way Yahiko's hair had been, and he had recently started to get himself tattoos. Thanks to the laws of the Junikyu, Hatsuharu's parents couldn't stop him from getting his first piercing, a simple earring, when he turned ten years old. Of course, Hatori did it for him, Akito wouldn't stand for one of his people to be mutilated by some 'outsider'.  
  
"Good afternoon, Haru. What can I do for you?" Hatsuharu normally didn't come to visit him, no one did, really. Akito was still a tiny bit irritated at him for not coming home permanently, but Shigure knew that to go back to living at the estate would be a show of weakness, something he just couldn't afford. Hatsuharu wasn't one to go wandering about by himself, not with how easily he lost his way.  
  
Hatsuharu was the ox, now a fourteen year old boy and, as he watched Hatsuharu pant for breath after he came to a skidding halt just in front of Shigure, he couldn't help but feel sad that it had been fourteen years since Yahiko had died. It hadn't seemed like all that long ago. Hatsuharu was so like his predecessor, Shigure thought, especially when it came to his looks. His attitude was almost entirely different, however.  
  
"Shigure, you've gotta help!" Hatsuharu's voice was almost pleading and his normally lazy eyes were wide open when he looked up at Shigure. "It's Yuki, you've gotta help!"  
  
Shigure stood up and started out of his house without asking questions, forcing Hatsuharu to keep up with his long strides. He knew Hatsuharu was taking martial arts lessons from Kazuma, so the boy would be able to keep up, out of breath or not. Kazuma had always stressed the importance of endurance. "What happened?" Something told Shigure that this was it. This was the moment he'd been waiting for to keep his promise.  
  
"I...I'm not sure. Yuki's gonna die, I think. Hatori told me to come and get you." Hatsuharu sounded as if he were either going to cry of burst into one of his black moods.  
  
Shigure rounded on Hatsuharu so suddenly that the boy almost ran into him. "What?" Shigure felt his heart start to pound loudly in his chest. "What did you say?"  
  
"He's bleeding awfully badly and Hatori says you have to come right now. Hatori looked like he was gonna hurt them and he ordered me to break down their front door."  
  
Shigure had a very bad feeling about all this, but, in a strange way, he was exhilarated. He'd been waiting for this opportunity for years. Had things finally gotten so bad that he wouldn't have a choice but to steal away the children? He had thought, at first, that he would take Kyou. Then Kazuma had adopted the cat. Next, he'd thought of taking Momiji, when Momiji's mother started to get irrational, but Hatori had taken him first. Now Yuki was the one in danger. Yuki was also Akito's favorite. 'I'll use Yuki, if I have to. Perhaps Akito will be more lenient with the other children if he knows I have Yuki. Then I can get Yuki thinking for himself. If he can become strong enough to stand up to Akito...maybe the others will be able to.' It was the grand plan, really. To get everyone thinking for themselves. Akito wouldn't like it, not at first. But, if no one treated him like a god, maybe Akito could learn to lead a normal life. Maybe Akito could be happy.  
  
Shigure knew that it would come to this one day, but he had hoped, in a very distant part of his mind, that it wouldn't. He had hoped that perhaps his generation of Souma's would be able to break the cycle of abuse that ran like a disease through the family.  
  
"Come on, hurry it up!" Hatsuharu snapped irritably, trying to get Shigure to walk faster. Shigure wondered if the boy was going to have another of his 'episodes' when he lost control of himself. Really, it was a very over dramatic way to say that he lost his temper. Black Haru, indeed! Still, at this moment, Shigure was glad that Yuki had somehow earned Hatsuharu's loyalty. It was that loyalty that might just save Yuki, now.   
  
At the estate-  
  
By the time Shigure arrived at Hatori's house, it was nearing dusk. Hatori was waiting by Yuki's bedside when Shigure strolled in, leaving Hatsuharu with Momiji in Hatori's living room. With all that had just happened in the past few days, with Kana, Shigure was almost glad that Yuki gotten hurt, though it sounded evil of him to even think such a thing. Hatori wouldn't dwell on his own misery while he had someone else, like Yuki, to worry about. That meant it was less likely that Hatori would drift back into his own self-destructive habits. With luck, worry about Yuki would last until Hatori had settled down about losing Kana.  
  
"Haru said I should come by." Shigure spoke softly as he closed the door behind himself, to give him and Hatori privacy to speak. He went to the bed Hatori kept in his spare room for the patients he needed to watch closely. Yuki's face wasn't all that badly injured and Shigure knew Hatsuharu had just panicked, exaggerating the injuries. "He doesn't look all that bad to me. Haru seemed to think that Yuki was dying."  
  
"Haru is more perceptive than most people credit him for. It's not Yuki's physical injuries I'm worried about. That's only bruises and a few cuts." Hatori brushed a bit of hair out of Yuki's eyes with his long, delicate fingers. "He hasn't spoken a word since Hatsuharu and Momiji found him. I believe he's awake, he just won't 'let' himself wake up." Hatori paused. "He was having an asthma attack when I got there. By the time I managed to get Hatsuharu to bash down the door..."  
  
"Bash down the door?" Shigure looked at him incredulously.   
  
"Yes. Hatsuharu kicked the door down for me, but we found Yuki's inhaler on the floor just a few feet from him, but he wasn't trying to use it. He'd also stolen some of my cigarettes and smoked until the air in his room was nearly blue with smoke." Hatori paused meaningfully. "I'm putting him on suicide watch."  
  
Shigure didn't argue with Hatori's diagnosis. It would be useless. If there were anyone who knew the despair of being of wanting to die, it was Hatori. "So, he'll try to kill himself."  
  
"Not exactly. I don't think he's going out of his way to kill himself, that would take to much effort. He won't cut his wrists or deliberately overdose on pills or put a gun to his forehead. I think...and I'm not sure of this...I think he just won't go to any effort to save himself. He's going to let himself die."  
  
Shigure took a deep breath. "Then it's come to this, has it?" Shigure was half talking to himself and if Hatori gave an answer, Shigure didn't hear it. Really, Yuki didn't look all that badly hurt, as Hatori had said. There was a mark on his neck that looked as if someone with a large hand had grabbed him very suddenly. A few scrapes and a large bandage on his forehead that Hatori must have put there. Shigure knew what he had to do and this was the perfect time. If he didn't, he was sure that Yuki would find a way to do what he wanted and die.  
  
"Shigure?" Hatori's voice broke though Shigure's thoughts. "Shigure, don't smile like that, please. You always get that look when you're thinking and that makes me nervous." Hatori said this in a perfectly serious tone and Shigure wondered if Hatori had meant it as a joke. Hatori didn't often make jokes, though, and this was hardly the time to start.  
  
"Akito hasn't seen Yuki yet, has he? They wouldn't let Akito think they were hurting Yuki." Shigure didn't take his eyes off Yuki and wondered if he really was awake, like Hatori said. His breathing was low and regular, his chest rising and falling slightly with every breath. He wondered if Yuki could hear what they were saying and what Yuki thought of all this. There were other questions, but Shigure decided he would ask Yuki later.  
  
"No. I can only guess that this is recent. Yuki was hurt only a very short while ago and the asthma attack, if I hadn't gotten there in time, would have killed him." He looked away from Shigure. "We were very close to losing him this time, Shigure. Very close."  
  
"So...Akito's probably not going to be very happy with them when he finds out what happened."  
  
"That's a safe bet. I'm going to talk to Aya and see if I can convince him to take custody of Yuki. He's a legal adult now, so we can do it even according to normal laws. With Akito's approval..."  
  
"No. I'll take him. Yuki's going to need someplace quite and away from all distractions to heal. My lonely little house in the forest should do well. He's always been fond of gardens, right? I'll give him a little plot and let him start his own. He'll be fine with me and Aya will have time to get used to his brother without lots of family around all staring at them. Trust me, it'll be for the best."   
  
Shigure fought not to smile. It was, perhaps, evil to smile when his young cousin was lying in front of him so obviously hurt. 'Then again,' Shigure reflected, 'since when hasn't someone in my family been hurt?' Shigure realized, just then, that he really didn't feel very sorry for Yuki. Of course, he was sorry that Yuki was hurt, he was sorry that Yuki was feeling so badly that he wanted to die. Still, Yuki wasn't any worse off than any other Souma throughout history. 'Maybe I'm just getting numb seeing people hurt. Maybe I'm not a good person anymore.' Shigure had once thought he was a good person.   
  
He had been very proud, when he was younger, that he was honest and trustworthy. Somehow, as he'd grown older, Shigure had lost those nice qualities and now all that remained was a desire to save his family. He wanted to protect them and make them happy, but if he was going to survive, he couldn't allow himself to feel for them. He just didn't have enough tears to cry for them.   
  
It was better to lie and keep secrets. Better for the whole family. Shigure had found that he could keep people safe if he lied. The sight of Yuki, waiting to die, didn't horrify Shigure as much as he thought it should have. It should make him sick to know what was done to Yuki, but it didn't. As horrible as his life was, Yuki had suffered no more than Kyou who'd watched his mother put a bullet in her forehead because she couldn't stand her life with him anymore or Momiji who'd seen and heard how much his own mother hated him from her own lips. No more than Hatori who had been routinely beaten as a child or Ayame who'd lost his mother because she wanted so badly to have another cursed child.  
  
"What are you thinking of, Shigure?" Hatori asked, his voice hushed as he put a few drops of medicine into a nebulizer, before he held the plastic face-mask on Yuki, covering the boy's mouth and nose. The dull noise of the machine filled the room and a fine mist was produced by the machine, filling Yuki's lungs with every breath.  
  
"Do you trust me?" It was something Shigure had asked once long ago. If Hatori were smart, he'd say no. Hatori was very intelligence, but he wasn't devious or cunning.  
  
"To do what?" Hatori gave him a guarded look.  
  
"Just answer...do you trust me?"  
  
Hatori sighed and looked at Yuki who lay as if he hadn't heard a thing, still quiet and peaceful. "I'll trust you to do what you think is best for the family." He finally conceded.  
  
"Close enough." Shigure tucked the white blankets that covered him around Yuki, wrapping him up as if he were an infant instead of a teenage boy. "I'll taking him to my house now, he can't stay on the estate. He'll stay with me until he wants to return. I won't let him be taken back here, Hari. He must return by his own free will." Shigure weighed the future very carefully as he watched the impassive face of Yuki. Everything was going to change today, he realized. Shigure knew life in the Souma family would never be the same once he took Yuki away. Perhaps the changes wouldn't be as great as Shigure hoped. Perhaps he was only going to make things worse instead of better. Still, if he could save just one child...if he could show Yuki that life wasn't one long string of hurt and pain, maybe the future would be brighter. If Yuki could see the joy in life that seemed to elude the rest of the family, maybe he would be more apt to teach the next generation of the cursed Junikyu.  
  
Hatori nodded slowly, not exactly giving approval for what Shigure was doing, but not condemning him, either. "I understand. Have you asked Akito about this?"  
  
"I'll let him know once I get Yuki comfortable at my house." Shigure tried to make his voice sound as light as possible, as if he didn't see the importance of what he was going to do.  
  
"You're playing a dangerous game."  
  
"Life's no fun without a bit of spice." Shigure winked at Hatori before he leaned over and slid his arms under Yuki's knees and back. Yuki tensed for a moment, but then let himself completely relax until it felt like Shigure were holding nothing more than a doll. "Tell Hatsuharu not to visit for a while, I know he'll be worried, but it's better to give Yuki some space for a while. I don't want him thinking about life on the estate to deeply. I'll enroll him in the local high school as soon as I get the chance."  
  
"Not until I say so, you won't." Hatori said, steel in his voice. "He's to be kept under constant supervision for two weeks. I'll let you know when you can allow him a bit of freedom. Until I'm satisfied he's not going to hurt himself, you must watch him. I'll come to check on him once a day." Hatori said as he followed Shigure out of the house. "If there are any changes in his condition, for better or worse, let me know at once any time of the night or day and I'll come. You have my cell number. Do you want me to drive you home? It'll be awkward to carry him all the way."  
  
Shigure shook his head. "Better you keep as far out of this as possible, Hari. You don't want your name mentioned when Akito asks where Yuki is. If anyone asks you, tell them I said I was taking him to see Akito. They'll believe I lied to you."  
  
Ayame-  
  
Ayame liked his work. It allowed him to distance himself from the pain at home. He hated seeing Hatori in so much pain, but he'd known it would come to this. Not exactly, of course, but he knew the relationship couldn't last.  
  
Kana wasn't strong enough. She'd turned out to be strong enough to deal with the curse itself, but she couldn't handle Akito. If she were to marry Hatori, Akito would become a huge figure in her life. Hatori would never leave Akito, not even if Kana demanded it. He would stay to guard Akito's health, protecting the rest of the family, if nothing else. She'd broken under the strain of seeing what Akito was capable of and now Hatori was the one who had to heal that damage. He was the one who'd have to live with the memories while that selfish witch, Kana, went on with her life, blissfully ignorant. Because she wasn't strong enough, Hatori was the one that had to suffer. That just wasn't right.  
  
"Oh, Mine-chan," Ayame laughed as he easily stitched a hem, trying to think of anything but Hatori. He and Mine-chan sat side by side in the front room of the store, 'Ayame', and traded stories. It was a normal working day for them, slow but fun. Business would never be terribly busy, but Ayame was fine with that. It gave Mine-chan and him more time to talk and they were able to focus more on the quality of their work. "You can't be serious about that!" It was some idle chatter, the same that filled most of their days. Ayame liked Mine-chan very much. She was fun and smart and very clever. In a way, she reminded him of what he might have been like if he'd been born a girl.  
  
"But I do, boss." Mine-chan insisted. "I think this friend of yours should come for a visit. What did you say his name was again?"  
  
"Leon Orcot." Ayame answered, smiling at the thought of his American friend. "He's a dear boy, but I don't know that he'd like my family all that much. He's such an innocent, really. Oh, he gives off this big, bad attitude and tries to sound so tough, but he's really a child at heart." Ayame's smile broadened. He would like to actually meet Leon, one day. It was hard to only talk through letters and Leon didn't have a computer, so they couldn't email each other. How nice to be able to just walk down the street and talk to Leon.  
  
"Leon." Mine-chan said the name awkwardly, rolling it over her tongue. "I like it. It sounds so exotic. From what you tell me, he sounds very nice."  
  
"Oh, he is. Ah!" Ayame gasped and dropped the skirt he was working on when he remembered something. "Did I tell you the latest? He's got a new friend!"  
  
"That's nice. You said he hasn't got many friends, right?"  
  
"That's right, my dear. He has a lovely lady friend named Jill and you'd simply love her. I've got a picture of her that Leon send me at home, I'll bring it in to show you sometime. She's cute as a button, really! Curly chestnut hair and freckles all over her nose! Adorable!"  
  
"She sounds very cute!" Mine-chan's voice was just as enthusiastic as Ayame's. She loved cute girls. "So, who's the new friend? Someone 'special'?" Mine-chan added a wink to her question to show her meaning.  
  
"Well," Ayame leaned forward and whispered confidentially, although no one would hear them in the empty story. "He doesn't say as much, but I get the feeling there might be something going on between them. It's a man and his name is D. Just that, D. No last name, which, if you ask me, is a bit odd." He frowned slightly. "I tell you, I'll be very upset if this is just some petty minded man using dear Leon for amusement. Anyway, Leon talks about him in every letter I get. It's always, 'D this...' and 'D that...' I can't get through a letter without hearing about him, but Leon won't say much about him. If you ask me, Leon's got a crush, but he won't admit it."  
  
Mine-chan giggled. "How cute. I think I'd like to meet Leon, too. Oh, please, boss! Please, invite Leon to visit us!"  
  
"I have." Ayame gave an exaggerated sigh. "He just keeps insisting that he hasn't got the money to travel. Still," Ayame pondered the problem. "I suppose I could always give him the plane ticket. He must be able to take time off for, say, Christmas. Oh! And I'll send him an extra ticket for this D, too. I think I want to meet someone so important to Leon."  
  
"Good idea, boss." Mine-chan agreed happily. "It would be a nice Christmas present."  
  
The telephone rang and Ayame hopped up to answer it and he smiled when he heard the family voice on the other end. "'Gure-san, how are you?"   
  
At Shigure's house-  
  
Shigure-  
  
Shigure spoke softly into the phone, keeping his voice as calm as possible. "Aya, I need you to come to my house as soon as possible."  
  
-You're house?- Aya's voice came over very clearly over the phone, sounding mildly curious. -Mine-chan, use the red lace. Yes, that looks lovely. Sorry, 'Gure-san, you were saying?-  
  
Shigure almost blurted out what had happened, but he controlled himself. None of this was really Ayame's fault. He hadn't been old enough to help when Yuki was younger and now he was spending so much time away from the estate. He'd even stopped visiting Hatori so much after Kana had come into Hatori's life. Not that Shigure could blame Ayame for that, it hurt to have to watch the person you love fall in love with someone else.   
  
"Aya, I really need you. Please..." Shigure let his voice trail away, just before he hung up the phone. Quickly, before Aya could call back, Shigure disconnected the telephone and made his way back up to where he'd left Yuki. That little mystery should convince Ayame to come as soon as possible.  
  
Shigure wasn't pleased to find that Yuki was still asleep. 'I should have done this long ago.' Shigure berated himself as he stood in the doorway and watched Yuki's shallow breathing. 'Maybe I waited to long. Maybe we'll lose Yuki, anyway.'  
  
When the doorbell rang, Shigure was sure that it was Ayame and impressed that his friend had made it over so quickly.  
  
"We've come for Yuki." Yuki's foster parents, Yoko and Tashei, stood on the doorstep and Shigure was very still for a long time.  
  
'They'd dared? They really dared to come to me and demand Yuki?' The absurdity of it all almost struck Shigure as funny. Then his canine pack instincts kicked in. 'They're threatening my pack. Souma's they might be, but they aren't part of my pack. My pack is the Junikyu, the cursed.' Shigure fought the urge to attack them. The small woman who looked so much like her evil sister, Ren, and the huge man she'd brought into the Souma family. They were just like Ren. They only wanted the power Akito could give them, the wealth and prestige that having the rat for your child could bring.  
  
Shigure could grow to hate his family. "How dare you?" Shigure felt his voice start to shake as he raised his eyes to them. "How dare you become so arrogant that you think I'll let you put a hand on Yuki?" He looked from one face to the other and saw that they really didn't understand. After raising Yuki for fifteen years, they didn't understand. "You can't have him. Akito cares nothing for you and, when I tell him how you've been abusing Yuki, he'll probably have your memories erased and then kicked off the estate. You can't come to me and think I'll just hand him over, not after what Haru and Hari saw."  
  
"You can't talk to us like that, we're his parents. We're the ones who raised him." Tashei was a heavy handed man who reminded Shigure a little to much of Ritsu's father, a man the family hadn't seen since his memory had been taken and he'd been divorced from his wife.  
  
"Get out of my house before I do something you'll regret." Shigure spoke as calmly as he could, not bothering with manners or his disguise of the empty headed buffoon most of the family believed he was. "If I have to defy family tradition and go to the police, I will. I'll have you both up on charges of child abuse and I don't think Akito would like that at all, do you?"  
  
"You wouldn't!" Yoko sneered. "Akito would never allow it!"  
  
"Try me." Shigure invited. For a moment, Shigure was sure that he would be attacked by the furious foster parents. He didn't care and was even looking forward to it. He knew for a fact that they couldn't out fight him and he was feeling that pack instinct screaming at him to kill the threats against his family. Yuki was doomed from birth to face terrible things in his life and they'd gone and made everything worse.  
  
Then, Shigure heard the creak of the stairs behind him and turned to find Yuki standing on the bottom step. He'd wanted to avoid this. "Yuki, go back to bed!" Shigure snapped, not wanting to take his eyes off the foster parents for any longer than necessary. They wouldn't give up Yuki without a fight, not when Akito's good will depended on it.  
  
When he turned just slightly, after realizing that Yuki hadn't done as he was told, Shigure saw a look a fear on Yuki's face. Yuki had one hand on the stair's banister and the knuckles of that hand were white.  
  
"Yuki! It's about time!" Tashei came forward as much as he could without bumping into Shigure, who stood where he was like a wall. "Come here, Yuki. It's time to go home. Enough of this fooling around."  
  
Yuki said not a word, just stared. All of a sudden, Yuki's eyes rolled up into his head until only the whites showed, and he fainted, crashing to the floor and tumbling down the stairs. He'd cut his head again, when he fell, but Shigure didn't budge. He refused to let them go to Yuki.  
  
"Get out of my way!" Tashei balled his hands into fists, threateningly. "Scrawny little shit, you really think you can stop me from doing whatever I damned well please? You aren't as important as you think you are, Shigure. Akito doesn't like you, he never even speaks of you. He'll believe me when I tell him you tried to steal Yuki away. After all, we've always taken good care of his precious pet, why wouldn't he believe us?"  
  
"Because you're not one of us." Shigure said simply. "If you haven't realized that about him yet, you never will. You aren't one of us, so you aren't important. Get out of my house."  
  
"I don't think so!" Yuki's foster father made a lunge at Shigure, both of his hands out stretched before him. He looked as if he would seriously kill Shigure.  
  
A hand dropped down like a lead weight onto Tashei's shoulder and stopped him dead in his tracks.  
  
Ayame.   
  
He looked colder than Shigure had ever seen him. There wasn't a hint of emotion on his face as Ayame stared at Yuki's fallen body. He just stood there. Very, very slowly, Ayame turned his head to look at Tashei. Still, Ayame was silent and even Shigure found himself unnerved by Ayame's silence. It just didn't seem natural.  
  
The attack was lightening quick. Ayame lashed out with his right fist, catching Tashei on the chin and sending him reeling to the floor. Still, Ayame said nothing. When Tashei tried to get to his knees, Ayame kicked him in the face, hurling him backward with a strength that only one of the cursed could have.  
  
"Don't..." Ayame's voice shook when he spoke. "Don't ever..." But whatever he was forbidding them to do would never be known. For once, Ayame didn't have the words to speak. He turned abruptly with a sharp movement and went to Yuki, lifting him easily. "I'll stay with him, 'Gure. You go do what you need to do."  
  
Shigure's eyes went to Yoko and Tashei, who was just standing up again. "As I said, get out of my house. Yuki's no longer your concern. Aya, if anyone tries to get in the house except Hari or I, stop them. You have my permission to do whatever you have to, just don't get blood on my carpet." Shigure watched as both Yoko and Tashei's eyes went to Ayame before they scrambled out of the house. Shigure followed them, feeling more satisfied than he had all day. After sliding the door closed behind him, he called out to Yoko or Tashei, "By the way, tell Ren her plan won't work. I'll never let her control the family. I don't care how much mercy Akito showed by letting her live, I'll kill her if I see her face again."  
  
Shigure knew this was Ren's work. He had no proof, but he knew all the same, that Ren was controlling her sister and brother-in-law. Ren was far to ambitious to give up her desire to rule the Souma family and Shigure had heard rumors, mostly from Hari and Kureno, that Ren had been seen on the estate, sometimes around Yoko and Tashei's house.  
  
Boston-  
  
Chris Orcot-  
  
"We can't just keep him like this!" His uncle had said. "He's sick and he needs to go to a hospital. Somewhere that they know how to take care of him."  
  
"But we can't just send him away." Chris' aunt had protested. "We don't know why he won't talk anymore. What if they think we've been abusing him? Our lives will be ruined if a rumor spreads that we've been abusing Chris or that we've let something happen to him. Surely we can find some way to help him get better right here."  
  
"What? You think we can just keep him locked up all the time and no one will notice? His teacher is pretty likely to notice he's gone for one thing. The best thing is to send him to Leon and tell Leon to drop him off at the asylum in San Francisco. They've got a very strict confidentiality policy, so no one will ever find out where he's going."  
  
"Leon?" Chris' aunt had demanded incredulously. "That lazy good for nothing? You think we can trust him to keep quiet about this?"  
  
"We don't have a choice. Leon won't say a word. If I know Leon, he's going to get rid of Chris as soon as he can so he won't have the problem of a little boy hanging around under his feet while he's got women at his place. God forbid he actually want to keep Chris around. Whatever's screwed up with Chris, living with someone like Leon is sure to make it worse. He's no fit role model for a child."  
  
In the hallway, outside his aunt and uncle's room, Chris felt like his heart was being stepped on. They didn't really care. So long as no one found out that he was 'sick' and no one thought they'd done anything wrong, they didn't care what happened to him.   
  
Stunned, Chris went back to his bedroom and lay down on his bed. The moon was high over the rooftops of the neighbor's houses and Chris found himself trying to think about what was going to happen to him. He couldn't for the life of him imagine what this mysterious brother of his might look like. Would he be mean? Would he really just shove Chris off to an asylum, whatever that was? Would he...Chris didn't want to think about this anymore. It was to depressing.  
  
'I don't want to leave.' Chris thought, hugging his pillow tightly. 'But they don't want me here. My own family doesn't want me.' Without meaning to, Chris started sobbing silently and cried himself to sleep that night. He didn't know why his voice had vanished, it just had after his cousin had told him why he lived with them.  
  
"They aren't your real mom and dad!" She said, holding her broken doll. "You killed your mom, that's the only reason you have to stay with us." Chris had broken her doll. It was just an accident, but she'd been so angry. "You killed your mom! No one loves someone who kills their own mom!"  
  
Chris' voice had vanished at that moment. He didn't care. They'd lied to him all that time. They didn't care enough to tell him the truth. Chris stopped himself from crying and lay down. Going to see his big brother wouldn't be so bad. Maybe Leon was really nice. Maybe Leon wouldn't hate him for killing their mother.  
  
Days later-  
  
The plane landed and Chris was still staring out the window. He didn't want to look at anyone else, especially not anyone who would want to talk with him. So he ignored the man sitting next to him and just stared at the other airplanes in the airport until a hand landed on his shoulder.  
  
"It's time to get off. We're in San Francisco."   
  
Chris looked up to see that everyone else had gotten off the airplane and the stewardess was reaching for his small bag that was in the overheard compartment. Chris had liked her well enough when his aunt had given him to the woman at the airport. She was kind and had kept asking if he needed anything during the long flight.  
  
"Now then," The stewardess said briskly with a practiced smile. "Do you know where you belong? Your aunt said you had to find your brother, right? Leon?"  
  
Chris thought for a moment that maybe this woman would be different. Maybe she'd be able to hear him. -My brother's name is Leon. Aunt said he'd be waiting for me.- Chris said. But the woman just looked at him and took his hand.  
  
"Don't worry." She said kindly. "I'll see that you get where you need to be."  
  
Chris' head hung and he let himself be led off the airplane. 'She can't hear me, either. I don't care. I don't want to talk to people, anyway.'  
  
Leon was a lot taller than Chris had thought he'd be. He seemed to be a giant as he stood, leaning against a wall with a cigarette in his mouth and his arms crossed over his chest. Leon's bright blue eyes, the same as Chris', fell on him the moment he walked into the lounge of the airport. At a distance, Leon looked Chris up and down while puffing on his cigarette. In the end, he stood up and dropped the cigarette before crushing it with the toe of his sneaker.  
  
The stewardess stopped when Leon stepped in front of them. "I'm here for Chris Orcot." He said, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket so the stewardess could check his ID. "I'm Leon Orcot."  
  
San Francisco-  
  
Leon-  
  
"So, how did I end up like this?" Leon spoke to himself and ignored the curious looks of the other people as they waited for friends and loved ones to arrive at the airport while he walked out with Chris at his side. 'How can they just ship him over here? I don't care what they say, I'm not raising a kid!' Leon thought of all the stuff he had to do, none of which gave him any kind of time or energy to look after a kid. Even if that kid was his brother. His work ate up most of his time and even if he had time for a kid, his apartment was inches from being condemned. That wasn't a fit place for a kid to live.  
  
Chris had arrived with only a small bag of clothes and a frightened look on his face when he saw Leon. It was shocking for Leon to see Chris for the first time, it was like seeing himself as a child. Leon was glad this was only going to be for a few days. That was a reason why he'd never tried to get married. No good ever came of having kids around or having someone depend on you. It was better to be alone.  
  
'I'll have to find a baby sitter while I'm at work.' Leon thought, trying to think up someone he could trust with Chris. 'I'd ask Jill, but we work the same shifts. I'm not gonna leave him at home, that neighborhood's not fit for a child to be alone in. Maybe D would let the kid hang at the petshop.'   
  
A few months ago that would have been unthinkable, but now Leon seriously considered it. He had never given up the investigation about D's true purpose at the petshop, he HAD to be doing something illegal, but D wasn't so bad as Leon had first feared. He was mysterious and secretive, but D had never really lied to Leon. Lying was, as far as Leon was concerned, the worst of all possible vices. The pets were often dangerous, suspicious, or just plain irritating, but they'd never done any harm as far as Leon was able to prove. The only harm usually came to people who seemed to deserve what happened to them. D was intelligent and gentle; he was the best person Leon could think of to look after Chris for a few hours.  
  
Count D-  
  
Count D loved all his pets. He loved the cats and the dogs and the birds and all the other various beings in his menagerie. But it was a cool sort of love. He would protect them and give them all the care he could, but he would not let them enter his heart. That was to dangerous. Far to dangerous for such a creature as a kami.  
  
He couldn't love. That was far to dangerous as his papa had proven. Poor papa who'd fallen in love with a human and lost his mind when that human started aging before his eyes. D didn't like to think what would happen if he gave his heart away. It would just be to painful.  
  
Count D was the proprietor of a China Town Petshop, but it was really owned by his grandfather, Sofu D. Count D was also an inherited title that was passed down in his family. It was a very limited family, and D with only three living members.  
  
D wasn't human.  
  
To call him a human was about as accurate as calling a gerbil a rock. None of his family were human. They were something far grander, something that no human could truly understand. The Kami clan had existed for as long as the Earth herself had existed and, D believed, their family would only die with the Earth.  
  
As he passed through his petshop, occasionally glancing into this room and that, D took note that no one or nothing was out of place. He liked to keep a tidy shop and part of that meant keeping everyone happy and content. The petshop, at least this part, was dark. He rarely lit any lights in this part of the shop for the benefit of the animals who disliked light.  
  
"Count? Master?" A timid voice spoke up, drawing Count D's attention down to where a young girl dressed in very little looked up at him with large eyes. "That human of yours is coming up the street."  
  
"Thank you, my dear. Feel free to return to your room." He gave her a smile, causing the girl to smile in return, before she scampered off to her room.  
  
D didn't sell humans, of course. His was a petshop and he only sold animals.  
  
That human was, naturally, detective Orcot. Leon was the only human who regularly visited and never bought a pet. Actually, Leon thought D was doing something nefarious, like selling drugs or something. It was a silly accusation, but D found that he rather enjoyed having Leon around. He would never allow himself to become so attached to Leon that it would hurt when he had to leave, but, for now, D permitted himself the luxury of friendship.  
  
"Tet-chan," D called out. "We have a guest, please prepare some tea and cakes."  
  
Tet-chan, in his usual appearance of a young teenage boy with shaggy red hair and dressed poked his head out of the kitchen. He was, after all, a gourmet chef and took great pride in creating the best of everything for Count D to eat. "What should I do anything for that damned human?!" Tet-chan was a tou-tetsu, a supposedly mythological creature that normally lived off human flesh. Though he was mostly innocent looking, Tet-chan it would be a fatal mistake not to take him seriously. Tet-chan had survived for many years killing and eating humans. He was one of Count D's prized pets, a rare and valuable find. He also had an intense dislike for the brutish human, Leon.   
  
"Because I asked to you." It was all D needed to do. Tet-chan pulled his head back into the kitchen, muttering about stupid humans even though D knew Tet-chan would be doing the cooking, just as he'd been asked to do.  
  
"D?" Leon's voice rang through the petshop and D hurried to meet Leon before the curious detective started to explore more than was healthy for him. There were standing orders on all the Petshop residents not to lay a finger on Leon, but there were always some pets who couldn't control themselves.  
  
"Good afternoon, Mr. Detective...what do you think you're doing?" D's mood went very abruptly from happy to see Leon to alarm. "Who is this? You never told me you had a son?"  
  
"Son?" Leon looked down at the young boy he'd pushed into the petshop and blinked at him. "He's not my kid. This is my brother, Chris. He's gonna stay with me for a couple of days, just till a place in the institute opens up."  
  
"Institute?" D still felt a little overwhelmed to see a mini-Leon looking up at him with weary eyes.  
  
"Yeah, Chris doesn't talk and my aunt and uncle say they're sending him to the institute to find out why and help him. They live in Boston, so I'm looking after him for a few days. Look, D," He gave the boy another encouraging push further into the petshop. "I'm late for my shift, I've really gotta run. Keep an eye on him for me, will you? I'll be back in a few hours. Chris, behave yourself."   
  
"Does this look like a nursery!?" D demanded, outraged that Leon would do this to him.  
  
"Ah, you'll be fine. He's a good kid." Leon smiled charmingly. "I'll tell you everything after work, I swear." Then Leon was gone without another word and D was left staring down at the little human.  
  
'Leon, I may just let Tet-chan eat you for this.' D sighed. He knew it was his own fault, really. He'd allowed Leon to get to close to him and, despite how often Leon accused him of murder or selling drugs, Leon had come to regard him as a friend. It was such a short time since they'd met, but Leon had already gone from trying to arrest D to presuming upon him as a nursemaid.  
  
"Bit of shrimp, isn't he?" Tet-chan had come out of the kitchen and looked down at the little boy with a smirk. "Looks like that big fool was an ugly kid, too." He picked up the child by the back of the neck and it was then that D was amazed.  
  
Chris kicked Tet-chan in the stomach and ran off into the halls of the petshop when Tet-chan dropped him. "He saw." D had never known a human who was able to see the pets in their true forms. It wasn't possible, yet Chris had seen Tet-chan's humanoid form. "That boy saw you, Tet-chan."  
  
Tet-chan nodded, rubbing his aching stomach. "He's a brat, just like this brother." He gave a little snarl that was almost amusement. "But at least he's got spirit. I could get to like the kid."  
  
Leon-  
  
Sitting at his desk in the police station, with Jill sitting opposite of him at her own desk, Leon tried to focus on his paperwork. It was so hard to fill out names and numbers when he had basically only one thought on his mind lately. Still, Leon knew that this was an important part of his job and he did it diligently. He couldn't help but think of those little irritating thought of what he was going to feed Chris for dinner since he only had a can of soup at home. What about school? Should he sign Chris up for school for only three days?  
  
"Leon, are you feeling all right?" Jill looked at Leon over the rims of her small glasses as she looked up from her own paperwork. "You've been real quiet all day. You've got me worried."  
  
"Fine, I guess. Nothing to worry about." The last thing Leon wanted to do was worry Jill. She'd always been a great friend and had always tried to look out for Leon. She didn't need to worry about him anymore than she already did.  
  
"Stop lying to me, Leon." Jill snapped. "I can tell when something's bothering you and this is weird. It's not the Count, you usually yell about him. Nothing but the Count normally gets you upset. So...spill it."   
  
"I told you, it's nothing. I just got a call from my aunt and uncle, it kinda upset me, that's all." Jill knew all about Leon's childhood, he'd told her about his aunt and uncle long ago. Leon sighed and knew he really didn't have a choice. Jill would find out in the end, anyway. "My kid brother just got into town and I'm looking after him for a few days."  
  
"You never told me you had a brother." The pain in Jill's voice made Leon look at her over his shoulder. She really did look hurt and Leon sort of understood why. They'd known each other for years and thought they knew everything about each other.   
  
"Yeah...haven't seen him for a while." Leon made no apologies. He didn't regret keeping that information to himself, he'd tried to forget Chris several times and hadn't seen him since his aunt and uncle had sent him away to the orphanage.   
  
Jill gave him a sour look and scowled. "I wish I hadn't had to pry that out of you, Leon. Some day, you're going to have to learn to trust me. Just for that lack of trust, I'll reward myself with some snooping." Before he could stop her, Jill stood up and reached over to Leon's desk, snatching a letter Leon had dropped there earlier with her strong hands.  
  
"Cut it out, Jill!" Leon tried to grab the letter back, but Jill had always been faster than he was and by the time she was sitting down was already examining the letter.   
  
Leon was sure that police work had ruined Jill's hands, but for the life of him, he didn't know why he noticed it. Jill's fingernails were short and blunt, for the practical side of her life, and her hands were almost always dry. Probably because he always noticed that the Count's hands were so nice.   
  
"What's this?" Jill turned the unopened envelope over in her hands before grinning at Leon, mischievously. "If I didn't know you better, Leon, I'd say you were getting letters from a lady. This smells like some fancy perfume. Who is this? Souma Ayame? That's an interesting name." She lifted her Styrofoam cup of coffee to her lips to drink.  
  
"Put my mail down, Jill!" Leon didn't try to get the letter back again, knowing full well that Jill would just jerk it out of his reach. That was one of the down sides of knowing each other for so long. Jill and Leon knew each other as well as a brother and sister. They knew all of each other's weak points. "He's my penpal, if you must know, and he always puts perfume on his letters."  
  
Jill choked on her coffee, spitting it all over her desk. Leon felt a surge of perverse pleasure that he'd gotten such a reaction out of Jill. She stared at him for a long moment. "You write to a guy who always puts perfume on his letters?" She raised a curious eyebrow.  
  
"Well, he always has since we've started writing to each other." It took Leon a moment to see what Jill was hinting at and he flushed bright red. "I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING!" He shouted. "Knock it off! It's nothing like that!"  
  
"Nothing like what?" Jill asked in an innocent tone. "I just think it's a bit odd that you like getting letters from this guy, but you don't even have a kind word for the Count. You keep going on about him being to feminine, but this penpal of yours is all right?"  
  
"It's different with D. That's all." Leon didn't know how Jill always managed to turn the conversation around to D. D always came up when they were talking. "D's just...he's not like Ayame." Leon didn't want to say anything else, not in public anyway. D wasn't like anyone else on the entire planet. Ayame was a friend and a confidant, but D...D was close. He always seemed to be looking right into Leon's soul while he looked at Leon with those mismatched eyes. Those beautiful eyes.  
  
"He's Japanese, right? Souma's a pretty common name over there, or so I've heard." Jill commented, setting the letter down. "So what are you writing to a Japanese guy for?"  
  
"I told you, he's just a penpal. Besides, I'm busy, Jill." Leon determinedly kept his eyes on his paperwork and not Jill. "You know, this is what we get paid for?"  
  
"Awww...come on!" Jill encouraged. "Just give me a hint. I might get jealous if you go having friends without telling me. Worse, if I tell the Count, he'll get jealous, won't he? Please!"  
  
"Not while I'm working." Leon normally tried to avoid the unpleasant subject, but he was sure Jill would find out anyway. If nothing else, she'd resort to going through his trash to satisfy his curiosity. "It's not important, anyway. He's just a friend." Just a friend was probably to mild of a term for someone who was as important to Leon as Ayame was, even though he hadn't yet met Ayame. Despite never meeting, it was Ayame who'd gotten Leon though some very hard years. "Don't you have anything else to talk about?" Leon was getting very tired of the damned letter.  
  
"Well, we could talk about the Count." Jill suggested innocently. "Did you get that stuff he likes so much? What was it? Baklava? Ten dollars a piece at that fancy, up-town restaurant, wasn't it? Why Leon," She gave him a mocking look. "Are you blushing?"  
  
"Shut up, Jill!" Leon slammed his fists down on the top of his desk and half stood, glaring at his partner. He glared at her until her smirk broke though and he realized she'd gotten to him...again. Very slowly, Leon looked around, but was glad that no one was staring at him. Everyone had grown used to Leon's outbursts of temper, by now. He sat down, but grumbled, "You don't have to keep bringing him up."  
  
"Me? But Leon, I thought you wanted to talk about something other than that wonderfully mysterious letter. You haven't even opened it, yet."  
  
So, as usual, Leon broke down and tore open the letter. "When the chief asks me why my work isn't done, I'm blaming you." Leon grumbled, pulling Ayame's normally long letter out.  
  
"Go ahead, he won't believe you, anyway." Jill smiled as she jumped up and hurried over to read over his shoulder. She was quickly disappointed, though. "I can't read it. He writes in Japanese?"  
  
"Of course, he IS Japanese." Leon couldn't help but add a smug note of 'well...duh' to his voice. "Didn't I tell you I could read Japanese?"  
  
"No. You're keeping to many secrets, Leon...oh, my." Jill's voice lost its hard tone when two airplane tickets fell out from between the pages of the letter. "Tickets to Japan?" Her expression turned doubtful. "Leon, you know I was just teasing about you and this guy, but if there's something really going on..."  
  
"It's not like that!" Leon snapped back. "Stop letting your imagination run away with you! You've got such a filthy mind." But Leon picked up the tickets, curiously. Ayame had offered, many times, to fly him to Japan for a vacation, but he'd never gone so far as to send tickets. "He wants me to go visit him, but I keep telling him I haven't got the money. Geeze, he always was stubborn." Leon sighed. It might be nice to meet Ayame. Not like he had any time off from work or anything. Leon stuffed the letter and the tickets back in the envelope.  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Dear readers, my but this fic does seem to be getting long. I've had all kinds of ideas and now I think I want to bring Jill more into it. 


	11. Let Me Have Him

Petshop of Horrors X-over Fruits Basket   
  
Long Denied  
  
Chapter 11: Let Me Have Him  
  
Akito: 22  
  
Shigure: 27  
  
Yuki: 15  
  
Shigure-  
  
After making sure that Yoko and Tashei had really left, driving off in their car, Shigure took off, too. Shigure ran though the fading daylight, as fast as he could. His robes whipped behind him, catching on branches and shrubs, getting caught up so often that he soon shed the dark grey robe. His feet were bare, as he hadn't bothered to put any on after that nice little visit from Yuki's charming foster family. There was no time. As heartwarming as Ayame's little intervention had been, it also made it very likely that Yoko and Tashei were both driving back to the estate to complain to Akito. If Akito were convinced that they were in the right and that Yuki should be returned to the estate, nothing could prevent it.  
  
It wouldn't be hard to have Akito decide that Shigure had kidnapped Yuki. Shigure had kidnapped Yuki, technically.  
  
'I have to get to Akito first.' Shigure knew all the hidden paths between his house and the estate, he'd run them many times. Why on Earth should he chose to walk along the roads and streets just to make a quick visit to the estate when he could just go through the forest? The problem was that Shigure absolutely had to get to Akito first and no matter how many short cuts he knew, it would be hard to beat a car. 'I should have broken Tashei's leg. That would have slowed them down a bit.'  
  
As he ran, Shigure began to be aware of others around him. There was a familiar scent and Shigure heard a low panting. There was the almost nonexistent sound of paws pounding against the leaves on the forest floor. He didn't have to even look to know the wolves were with him again and Shigure felt reassured. They understood his urgency and, though they couldn't do anything to actually help, they did offer support. Just knowing they were near and that they understood how important his pack was to him, Shigure ran faster, dropping down onto his hands and feet as he ran.  
  
Shigure arrived at the wall that surrounded the estate and, before he started to climb the wall, he knelt amid the wolves that waited for him and rubbed his face against the muzzle of the alpha male and that of the female he'd always been closest to. They were both getting old and Shigure knew that any time the male would be displaced by one of the younger ones. It was the way of wolves. "Thanks for the support." Shigure whispered, knowing that they really couldn't understand his words, but that they would know his meaning. He was apart of their pack, in their eye, so they would support when he needed it.  
  
It was dark and quiet when Shigure climbed over the high wall and jumped down, looking around at the dark houses of the Souma family. He saw few people as he made his way through the estate, heading towards Akito's large house. He didn't bother to knock, it wasn't necessary or expected that he knock before going into Akito's house. It was understood that he, and the rest of the cursed, had free rein of Akito's house. Shigure didn't have to show the same kind of respect as the rest of the Souma family did.  
  
There was no sign of Tashei's car, he would have doubtless parked right outside Akito's house, and Shigure felt a surge of relief. 'At least I won't have to argue with them in front of Akito.' That would turn messy and Shigure knew Akito hated hearing his family fighting. 'I need Akito's approval. This just won't work without him.' Shigure was all to aware of how much of a risk he was taking. It all depended on how rational Akito was tonight. What with the whole Hatori and Kana tragedy, Akito probably wasn't exactly stable at the moment.  
  
In the halls of Akito's house Shigure passed several servants, quietly going about their jobs, but he didn't have time to even smile at them as he made his way to Akito's bedroom. He had no time. He knew that, by now, he was sweaty and breathing hard, he probably even had leaves or twigs in his hair. Hardly the appearance he liked people to see him in, but there was no time to straighten up.   
  
Shigure was surprised to find two scents in Akito's dark bedroom when he slid open the door. Both were recognizable and Shigure briefly wondered if Akito and Kureno had become lovers. The painful thought passed quickly enough. There was no scent of sex in the air and Shigure knew that Akito liked to be close to his Junikyu. It was probably entirely innocent.  
  
"Kureno, wake up." Shigure whispered, slowly making his way towards the bed. The blankets on the bed shifted as someone woke. Shigure had learned not to get to close until Kureno had seen him. He'd made the mistake of sneaking up on the rooster and still had the scar to prove it. Kureno was very protective of Akito.  
  
"Shigure." Kureno slid out of the bed carefully, so as to no wake Akito and stood. He was dressed only in a pair of boxer shorts and, standing in the moonlight, Shigure couldn't help but leer. Kureno had grown into a fine figure of a young man. He had what most people would call a perfect body, muscular but not overdeveloped. There were faded scars from the days before he'd come to live at the estate, but they only seemed to add to his beauty, not take away from it.  
  
"You look like something out of a wet dream, Kureno."  
  
Kureno's expression didn't change and he made no move to cover himself as so many people would have. Hatori, for instance, would have died before he let anyone see him so undressed. Still, the long dagger Kureno held in his left hand must have done a lot to relieve any sense of vulnerability. "What do you want?"  
  
"I want to talk to Akito. Can you give us a few minutes alone?"  
  
Kureno nodded. "Akito said you were always allowed in. I'll be outside the door if he needs me."  
  
"Do me a favor, won't you?"  
  
Kureno cocked his head to the side, looking at Shigure curiously, but saying nothing.  
  
"Your mother and father will be here soon. They'll want to talk to Akito about Yuki. Don't let them in."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Oh," Shigure laughed carelessly. "It's nothing for you to be worried about. They're a little upset about something I've done. I just want to tell my side of the story before they start telling lies to Akito. You don't have to kill them or anything, just don't let them in till I've finished with Akito." Shigure went to Kureno and put both arms around his younger cousin's neck, pulling them closer together. Shigure had never gotten to know Kureno well, but he often wished he had. He took a deep breath, inhaling Kureno's scent of peppermint mouthwash and Ivory soap. It was a very clean smell. "Why were you in his bed, Kureno?" He wasn't jealous, it was nothing like that. Shigure didn't even have to ask if Kureno was Akito's lover, it wasn't possible. If they were lovers, Shigure would be able to smell it. The smell of sex lingered in a room and the lovers would reek of each other and, though Akito and Kureno did spend enough time together to smell of each other, they definitely were not lovers. Still, it did seem odd for two people to sleep in the same bed and NOT be lovers. 'I wish...'  
  
If he was at all upset by Shigure's close contact, Kureno didn't let it show. He just stood there and let Shigure hold him. Of course, Kureno was probably used to it from Akito, by now. "He likes to be able to touch me when he wants to. He likes to see that one of 'his people' is close. He said he doesn't like to be alone. It frightens him. So I stay with him."  
  
"I see." Shigure didn't let go of Kureno, but gazed into those cool eyes. There was so much potential in Kureno, so much possibility. How sad if he were to stay forever at Akito's side and do nothing else with his life. "Remember, whatever happens, don't let them in. Can you do that?"  
  
Kureno looked as if he might argue, but Akito spoke up softly. "Yes, he will. You may go, Kureno, but don't go far."   
  
Kureno walked away as soon as Shigure let his arms drop to his sides and made his way to Akito, who was still in bed. Shigure slid onto the bed, next to Akito and taking Kureno's still warm spot on the bed. It was a very comfortable place to be and Shigure wondered if he'd have Kureno's place at Akito's side if he hadn't chosen to leave the estate. "I was hoping you'd be awake. I need to talk to you."  
  
It was very dark in the room, but Shigure didn't bother turning on any lights. Akito would do better in a comfortable, intimate atmosphere.  
  
"Talk? About what? You said something about Yuki, didn't you?" Akito blinked his dark eyes open slowly as he rolled over and leaned his head closer until his head was on Shigure's arm. One of Akito's hands traced its way up Shigure's arm until it ended on his chest. Shigure fought the urge to shiver and stayed as calm as he could. This was hardly the time to be worrying about anything except Yuki. "Why don't you want Yoko and Tashei to talk to me?"  
  
"It's Yuki. He's been hurt."  
  
That got Akito's attention very quickly and he snapped awake, his eyes hardening. "Hurt? How? Where is he?"  
  
"He's at my house, and he'll stay there." Shigure kept his voice soft; he knew loud noises upset Akito. "Hatori thinks Yuki will be fine, but we need to talk about him. It's getting serious."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Akito looked confused for a moment. "I want Yuki here. He's to far away at your house." Akito inched closer, putting himself close enough that almost his entire body was pressed against Shigure. "You're to far away, too. You should come home. This is where you belong." It was the same thing Akito always said when Shigure came to visit.  
  
"Yuki can't stay here anymore, Akito. He's not safe." Shigure kept his voice firm. Akito was like this with every one of his Junikyu. He enjoyed being touched and touching more than anything. There was absolutely nothing sexual in his intent when he practically draped himself over Shigure. "I'm going to keep him at my house where I can take care of him."  
  
"Bring him back and you can protect him here."  
  
"No. I'm not going to do that."  
  
Akito grew angry and pulled away from Shigure almost violently, though he still didn't get out of the bed or even sit up. "I am head of the family! You can't defy me!"  
  
"Yes, I can." Shigure moved closer to Akito, making sure that he had his God's attention. "I've defied you before and I'll do it again. Yuki has to be protected and that's what I'll do. He's part of my family and I won't let my family be hurt if I can help it." Shigure wanted to tell Akito that it was him who was hurting Yuki, and the rest of the family, but that would be a mistake. It would only get Akito upset and Shigure needed Akito as sensible as possible.   
  
Needless to say, Akito wasn't pleased. He pulled away from Shigure again and sat up for the first time since Shigure had come into the room. His eyes flashed ominously, even in the darkness, and when he sat up, Shigure was given a very clear view of Akito's naked chest. He was still to thin and far to pale, almost transparent. "I won't let you keep Yuki away from me." He began to breathe very quickly. "They told me you'd try to take Yuki away from me! They warned me you wouldn't let me see him!"  
  
"They?" Shigure asked, keeping calm and hoping that Akito wouldn't fly into another rage. "They who? Who's been telling you lies?"  
  
"They aren't lies!" Akito moved as if he would leave the bed, but his long arms and legs got tangled in the bed clothes and he struggled for a moment to free himself. "They said you'd take Yuki away from me and you are!" Akito's breathing got faster. "You're trying to punish me for Hatori! I know you are! It wasn't my fault, I didn't mean to hurt him and you have to right to punish me. I didn't want to hurt Hatori. I didn't." He was starting to degenerate into tears. "Stop talking to me! I told you I didn't mean to do it. It was her...that empty-headed woman. She was going to hurt him. I had to protect Hatori. She was going to hurt him, wasn't strong enough. He would have cried. I can't bear to see Hatori crying."  
  
"Akito..." Shigure wasn't sure how much to risk saying. Sometimes Akito went on like this, like he were talking to someone else. Someone who wasn't there.  
  
"No! I won't hurt them. I love them." He paused and his fighting with the bed clothes stopped suddenly. "Shigure? Are you here?"  
  
"Yes, Akito. I'm right here." Shigure put his hands on Akito's narrow shoulders and pulled him back until they were leaning against each other. The physical contact seemed to soothe Akito. "I'm not trying to punish you for anything. Hatori's not angry with you, he still loves you. I have to do this for Yuki. He's sick."  
  
"They've warned me. They've been warning me for a long time that you'd take Yuki away if I didn't stop you."  
  
"Lies, that's all it is. We're family, Akito. You know I wouldn't hurt Yuki and I'd never hurt you. Besides, how could I take him away? I only live a short distance away. My house is closer than the hot springs where Ritsu lives. You can walk the distance in less than twenty minutes." When he was angry, Akito could become very strong very unexpectedly, but right now he wasn't angry enough to do anything unexpected and Shigure's soft spoken words were only calming Akito. "Come, lay down and rest. There's no reason to get upset, no reason at all. I'm not stealing Yuki away from you. He just needs a little quite time away from the family. He needs time to think and time to get well."  
  
Akito slowly allowed Shigure to pull him back down onto the bed, looking more doubtful with each word that Shigure spoke. "Just a little time to think? He's sick?"  
  
"Yes, just a little. He's depressed and that's a very dangerous kind of sickness. Besides, you can't really trust Yoko and Tashei. They aren't like us. Yoko's Ren's sister and neither of them understand the curse, even though they knew about it. Yoko's trying to use Yuki just like Ren used you. You don't want that, do you?" Shigure hugged Akito's to him. "Ren hurt you so badly, you don't want Yoko to hurt Yuki."  
  
"No." Akito agreed softly. "She hurt him?"  
  
"Oh, yes. Yoko and Tashei both hurt Yuki. Do you know what they did? They made him think the only reason you want to see him is because he's so pretty. He thinks you don't love him."  
  
Akito gasped at Shigure's blatant lie. "I DO love him! He's mine!"  
  
"I know, but that's not what they taught Yuki. That's why Yuki never wanted to see you, he thought you just liked the way he looks." It was such an obvious lie, that Shigure hoped he wasn't right. Yuki was very pretty, in an immature sort of way. Once he grew up a bit, Yuki was sure to be breathtaking, but right now he was still a child in Shigure's eyes. There would be so many people in Yuki's life who would love him for nothing more than that pretty face of his, Shigure wanted to know that at least Yuki's own family could see a little deeper.   
  
Akito's love ran deeper than Yuki's appearance. Shigure was absolutely certain that Akito loved every one of his Junikyu, just as he said he did. Even when he hurt someone, like Hatori, Akito loved them and was trying to do what he thought was best. It was a painful love, but it was the only kind Akito seemed to be capable of. Akito loved Yuki because he was the rat, because he reminded Akito of the closed thing he ever had to a mother, Junko. He also loved Yuki for other reasons, which he'd once confessed to Shigure. He liked Yuki's violet eyes. Not because they were the same color as Junko's eyes, but because they were Yuki's. Akito couldn't explain it any further, he just adored Yuki's lovely eyes. He loved Yuki's determined nature and the way Yuki always crossed his arms when he got upset. He loved Yuki simply because he was cursed.  
  
It was probably a lie that Yoko and Tashei had told Yuki that Akito didn't really care for him. Probably. Knowing them, it was hard to tell, though. Shigure couldn't know for certain, but it was a useful lie to use. He knew that Akito had hurt Yuki and he had to get Yuki away long enough for the boy to heal, even if it took a couple of years.  
  
It would be counterproductive to tell Akito that it was Akito himself that Yuki needed to get away from. Akito would simply think that he needed to prove Shigure wrong and he'd hold Yuki even closer.  
  
"Yoko and Tashei are the ones who've been hurting Yuki. It's gotten so bad that now Yuki want's to hurt himself." Shigure reached over and put a hand on Akito's hair. After Ren had left, the first thing Akito had done was to cut his hair short. It looked better on him than the long hair had. "I have to protect him, Akito. I won't let him be hurt."  
  
Akito's eyes narrowed. "I didn't hurt him. I'd never hurt Yuki."  
  
That was a lie, also, but Shigure couldn't be sure that Akito even knew he was lying. "Then why did he try to kill himself?" Shigure petted Akito's hair. "He's so lost, Akito. If you could have seen him today...he isn't happy here. You do want Yuki to be happy, don't you? Do you want Yuki to die, like Junko?" It was a dirty way to play, but Shigure had learned that cheating made life easier.  
  
Akito stopped his struggling, but didn't look at Shigure. "That was unkind."  
  
"I never said I was a kind person, Akito-chan." Maybe it was use of the affectionate childhood name, but Akito calmed almost at once and lay back on his pillows. "In the whole world I want only one thing. I want my family to be happy. Even if it's only for a moment, I want my family happy. Yuki isn't happy here. He'll die if he's kept caged up." It was blunt and cruel to say that to Akito who'd designed his whole life to revolve around his Junikyu, and double cruel because Akito was caged and doomed to die in his cage, but Shigure knew it would get the desired result.  
  
"You'll let him come home?"  
  
"When he's ready. He can't live with his foster family any more, though." Shigure was careful to avoid mentioning that Yuki might chose to never return. That wasn't really a possibility with the Junikyu, there was an inborn desire to be close to their God. Still, many had tried to get away from their family in the past and Yuki might try, also. "When he comes back he should go straight to living in his own house. He's fifteen, an adult."  
  
Akito paused and Shigure could hear his God breathing in the semi-darkness. "The voice tells me to let Yuki go."  
  
"Voice?"  
  
"Sometimes, when I get upset, I can hear a voice talking to me, Shigure." Akito turned and wrapped both arms around Shigure's neck, holding him as close as he could and Shigure willingly held onto his master. "Am I mad? Ren always said I'd lose my mind in the end." There was a terrible fear in Akito's voice and Shigure was speechless. "I don't want to go mad. I don't want to hurt anyone." He sniffed and, when Akito pressed his face into Shigure's neck, Shigure could feel the warm, wetness of tears. "I'm so afraid. I don't know what to do. I want Yuki to love me. I don't want to hurt him, but when he looks at me, he's so afraid. I think he hates me. What have I done? Have I hurt him? Have I hurt my rat?"  
  
Shigure couldn't speak for a moment. He couldn't tell Akito the truth without hurting him and he couldn't lie to his God. Hearing voices talk to him? "Let him go." Shigure whispered gently. "I read in a book, once, 'If it is yours, let it go. If it returns to you, then it is truly yours.' Please, let Yuki go. He needs to heal."  
  
"I don't want to let him go, he might not come back to me. This is his home. He should be safe here."  
  
"Should be, but he isn't. He'll die here, Akito. He'll die alone and sad. You don't want that, do you? You don't want to hurt anyone."  
  
"No. No, I don't want to hurt him. I want to protect Yuki. I want to protect you all. I'm God. I should protect and take care of my people, that's what a God does." He choked a little. "I want to be strong. I'm so tired, how can I do anything to help anyone when I'm so tired all the time? I don't feel very strong."  
  
"Let me be strong for you. Let me have him. You know I can protect him. I'll put him in a school and I'll see that he doesn't hurt himself anymore. Please," Shigure hated sounding like he was begging. "Please, let him go."  
  
"For only a little while." Akito granted sleepily as his body went a little limp in Shigure's arms. Shigure lay Akito down on the pillows and covered him up with the blankets. "Only a little while. When he's better, then he comes back to me."  
  
Shigure held Akito until he was sure his master was asleep. When he lay Akito down and covered him up in the warm blankets, Shigure sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at Akito's face. He looked at peace when he was sleeping and Shigure wondered what Akito dreamed of. Did he have a dream he wanted to make real?  
  
'I am truly the most cursed of us all. No one else would be stupid enough to...he's dying. I've known that since the day he was born.' Shigure wanted to cry when he turned away from Akito and stood up. 'Stupid...sitting here thinking useless thoughts when I have so much to do.'  
  
Kureno-  
  
It wasn't hard for Kureno to follow Shigure's request. Truthfully, he hadn't really viewed his parents as parents for a very long time. They'd abandoned him that day he'd been sold at the Pit. Now, only the cursed were his family.  
  
It was an awkward meeting, from the looks on their faces when they found him standing outside the front door of Akito's house. Their car pulled up and both of them jumped out very quickly. They didn't even notice it was him until they'd reached the top of the steps leading up to the door and both of them looked up at the same time.  
  
No one said a word for a moment as they stood together in the moonlight and Kureno wondered idly what they were thinking about. Both looked a bit horrified to find him there, but it really shouldn't be all that much of a surprise, should it? All the Souma's knew that Akito had bought Kureno. They'd seen him in Akito's company and when they'd brought Yuki over to visit with Akito.  
  
When Tashei tried to walk passed him, Kureno barred the door with his arm, giving the man a flat look. "You are not invited into the house of God."  
  
"Move, Kureno. I need to talk to Akito." Tashei put a hand on Kureno's arm, but Kureno didn't budge. "This is important!"  
  
"Akito is in an audience at the moment. When he's free, I'll ask him if he'd like to speak with you. You might want to go home. This could take some time." He felt a stupidly wasteful flare of pleasure at the looks of near panic on their faces and he couldn't help but add, "Why, Tashei, what has happened to your face?" He looked at a large spreading bruise blossoming on the right side of Tashei's face and raised a curious eyebrow.  
  
"Show more respect to your father!" Yoko snapped.  
  
"My father? My father is my God." Kureno had long since given up on his birth parents and, from the rumors he'd heard and what little evidence he saw with his own eyes, they were doing Yuki about as much good as they'd done for him. At least they hadn't sold the child. Yet.  
  
"Don't be stupid, Kureno." Tashei growled. "This is about Yuki and you know very well that..."  
  
Shigure burst out the front door with a broad smile and twinkling eyes. "Thanks for everything, Kureno. I had a lovely visit, it was very productive." His eyes fell on Tashei and Yoko and he feigned surprise. "Oh, my dear, dear cousins! How nice to see you. And what, may I ask, are you doing here at this late hour?" There was a smugly pleased quality to his voice that almost made Kureno smile. It was good to see that Shigure hadn't lost his talent for irritating people.  
  
"You know damned well what we're doing here." Yoko hissed, turning her attention away from Kureno. "You already talked to him, didn't you?"  
  
"About what?" Shigure stepped forward a bit until he was only a step behind Kureno and put both arms around Kureno's neck before resting the side of his face on the side of Kureno's face. Kureno really didn't mind. Shigure was like him, after all. "I just came for a chat with my master. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to talk with you now. Although," Shigure put a finger to his lips, as if he were thinking. "He DID seem a trifle upset when I told him that Yuki was at my house, resting from his suicide attempt. Seemed more than a little sad that his darling Yuki had to have Hatori rescue him from a nearly fatal asthma attack. Hmmm...now I wonder who he's going to blame for that? Especially since poor Hatori still isn't well, himself."  
  
"You're to arrogant for your own safety, Shigure." Yoko's voice and face were filled with hatred and Kureno knew she could see her good fortune slipping through her fingers.  
  
No far away, a single howl of a wolf pierced the night and everyone but Shigure looked at where the sound had come from, startled.  
  
"I don't think threats are a good idea, Yoko. You have a pet dog, don't you? What's his name? Pochi? Wouldn't it be terrible if Pochi were to turn vicious very suddenly?" There was a terrible seriousness behind Shigure's smile. "He's a mastiff, I believe. One of those big, lovely English Mastiffs. You know...dogs are carnivores at heart. No matter how domestic you make one, they've always got this powerful urge to sink their teeth into some good, warm meat."  
  
"You wouldn't." Yoko's face had gone very pale.  
  
"Wouldn't I?"  
  
It was a general rule that there were no cats allowed within the Souma estate for fear that the Cat would become angry and control them, making them attack people. Dogs, no one had considered a threat before.  
  
Shigure smirked at Yoko and Tashei. "You're just a bit to late. Our beloved Akito had just fallen asleep. It would be terribly bad manners to wake him, don't you think?"  
  
"I'll get you for this, Shigure." Tashei threatened.  
  
"No, you won't." Shigure took his arms off Kureno's neck and turned to address Kureno instead of the irate parents. "Akito's sleeping now. I don't suppose he'll want to talk to anyone till morning. I really should be going now. Ta ta." He winked at Yoko and Tashei as he strolled easily away.  
  
Kureno had a powerful urge to laugh at the expressions on Yoko and Tashei's faces, but he fought it. "Come back in the morning, after ten o'clock, and I'll ask Akito if he would like an audience with you." He couldn't stop the malicious smirk. "After everything that Shigure told him, I'd be surprised if he didn't call for you first thing in the morning."  
  
Both of them paled and walked numbly away as they faced the prospect of an interview with an angry Akito.  
  
Several months later-  
  
Tohru-  
  
Very early one morning, Honda Tohru woke with a jolt.  
  
She sat up abruptly, her hand clutching desperately on her blanket. Her grip was so tight that her knuckles were white and, for just a moment, she sat perfectly still.   
  
Without warning, Tohru burst into tears.   
  
'Something terrible...' She didn't know why but there wasn't an unbearable despair deep inside that felt as if it might devour her, but something had happened. She put her face in her hands and sobbed uncontrollably, crying so loudly that she was surprised her mom didn't come to see what was wrong, before she remembered this was her mom's early shift at the factory. She'd already left for work.  
  
'Stop it!' Tohru berated herself, rubbing at her eyes in hopes of waking herself. 'It was just a nightmare, nothing to get so upset about.' But Tohru couldn't remember having a nightmare.  
  
Tohru cried like that for what seemed like a very long time and she dimly knew that she had to get up, because she saw the sun rising out her window. One look at her alarm clock told her it was six-thirty in the morning.   
  
She felt so cold and couldn't stop shaking. Finally, Tohru shakily stood up and made her way out to the kitchen. Her eyes were bleary from tears, but she found the kitchen sink easily enough and washed her hands and face with cold water.   
  
'Foolish, this is just foolish! I'm to old to be acting like this.' Tohru sternly told herself as she dried her face on a towel. Unfortunately, when Tohru had finally stopped crying, she looked up only to see her own reflection in the kitchen mirror. Her eyes were red and puffy, her skin was blotchy and her hair was a terrible mess. For some reason, this set her off crying hysterically. She almost collapsed, but managed to catch herself on the kitchen sink. 'What's wrong with me? There's nothing to be upset about, I shouldn't be crying.' It just wasn't like Tohru to be crying so long or so hard for no reason.  
  
In the end, Tohru exhausted herself and ran out of tears. She settled herself down on the kitchen floor, to exhausted to even make her way back to bed. She panted for breath and was glad when the sun had rise to chase away the shadows. It would be time for school soon and Tohru was thankful no one was here to see her like this. She didn't want her mom or friends to see how weak she was. She didn't want anyone to see how the terrible blackness inside was eating away at her. It was foolish, there was no great blackness inside, it was just the nightmare. It must have been a nightmare. Right?  
  
At school-  
  
"Tohru?" Uo-chan was the first of Tohru's two friends to speak when she finally reached school. Arisa Uotoni was a very beautiful girl, Tohru reflected as she smiled and made her way to her dearest friends. She was taller than any other girl at school and had bleached her hair blonde. That blonde hair fell over one of Uo-chan's eyes and she had an attitude that showed everyone that she was very proud of herself and had nothing to prove to anyone. Tohru had always admired Uo-chan, she was so self-assured and confident. Right now, though, she looked worried. "You look terrible. What happened?"  
  
"It's nothing." Tohru lied, smiling to make Uo-chan feel better. The last thing she wanted was for either of her friends to worry about her, especially when it was something so silly as a nightmare. "I had a bad dream and couldn't get back to sleep afterwards. I'm just a bit tired."  
  
By now, standing in the full sunlight with a warm breeze and looking at her two dearest friends, Tohru could laugh at herself for having such a terrible break down. Everything was perfectly fine.  
  
"Dreams are very important. Can you remember any of it?" Saki Hanajima said, not moving from where she stood next to Uo-chan. Hana-chan was just as beautiful as Uo-chan, but in a very different way. Hana-chan had fairer skin than anyone Tohru had ever seen with thick waves of black hair and very dark eyes. So graceful and elegant, Tohru wished that she could have that kind of poise instead of being so clumsy. Hana-chan was thin, but there was a sense of power that surrounded her, just like the sense of strength surrounded Uo-chan.  
  
"No." Tohru told her as they all turned and started walking into the school. "Not a bit of it, I'm afraid. I just...It felt as if something terrible had just happened. Like the world was ending." Embarrassed when she realized how melodramatic she sounded, Tohru laughed at herself and blushed slightly. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. So, what's going on today?"  
  
Neither of her friends, especially Hana-chan, looked convinced that Tohru was all right, but they let her change the subject.  
  
"Well, I hear we've got a new student in our class." Uo-chan said, looking up slightly as she often did when she was thinking. "Not sure what the name is, but I hear its some rich kid from the other side of town. Why a rich kids going to our dumpy little school, I have no clue." She raised a hand and ran her fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her face.  
  
Yuki-  
  
Yuki's dream-  
  
"Aren't you happy, Akito?" Ren asked with a strangely gentle voice. She sat down next to Akito and smiled nastily as she watched Akito and little Yuki. "Aren't you pleased to have your rat back with you?"  
  
"Yes." Akito whispered. He pulled little Yuki closer to him and rested his chin on Yuki's head. "Very pleased."  
  
Sadly, Yuki was an average three-year-old and he tried to pull away from Akito. Yuki pushed away, whining, until Ren snapped. She lashed out at him and struck Yuki across the face, sending him reeling backwards. The little boy looked up at her with tears in his eyes.  
  
"Don't touch him!" Akito flared, turning his glare on Ren. "He's mine, you said so, yourself! They all belong to me!" Akito went to Yuki, but Yuki was still frightened and burst into tears when Akito tried to hug him again. "Stop it!" Akito ordered the child. "Stop crying, I'm only trying to help. I didn't hurt you, she did!" Every attempt Akito made to hug little Yuki was met by another wail and Yuki trying to get away.  
  
Kureno only watched as Akito grew frustrated and then angry at Yuki and he watched as Ren simply watched and waited.  
  
"You're mine!" Akito shouted at the toddler who sat on the ground crying as hard as he could. "Don't cry, you're my favorite, I won't let anyone hurt you." Akito pleaded as hard as he could, but none of it had any meaning for Yuki, he was simply to young to understand and Akito was to young to know how to deal with crying children. "Stop it! Stop crying!" Akito's voice hovered between anger and fear, no doubt afraid that Yuki wouldn't stop crying. "Stop! I don't like it! I hate your crying! Stop it!" Akito raised his hand over his head and he reared back to strike Yuki, just as Ren had done only moments ago.  
  
Ren was suddenly standing behind Akito, holding Akito's still raised hand in place. "Doesn't it feel good?" Ren purred into Akito's ear. "You belong to me, I can do anything I like to you. Yuki belongs to you, you can do anything you like to him. Do you like that power? Do you want to hit him? Go ahead." She released Akito's hand. "You're his god, you can do whatever you please to him and he'll still worship you. You want him to stop crying? Then make him. Make him stop."  
  
End of dream-  
  
Yuki hated that dream. He had it all the time, but at least it wasn't so horrifying as it once had been. Now, Ren was gone and Yuki had found her almost as frightening as he found Akito. He wasn't sure why Ren had vanished from the estate so suddenly, only that it had something to do with Shigure's sudden leaving and that Yuki was glad she was gone.  
  
No one else had ever been able to give Yuki a good enough answer about Ren's disappearance, not even his own foster mother, Ren's sister. She hadn't died, Yuki was sure of that because he'd once heard his foster mother talking on the phone to Ren.  
  
None that of that really worried Yuki, though. Ren, his foster parents, and Akito all seemed very far away. 'Shigure said I could stay as long as I liked, so I won't go back.' Yuki didn't quite believe himself, but he would try to make it reality. Even if part of him were itching to go back home, back to the estate and into the suffocating arms of Akito, Yuki wouldn't give in. Shigure and Hatori had given Yuki his freedom on a silver platter, a priceless gift. Yuki wasn't about to give up what he'd wanted for so long.  
  
Later, Yuki stared at his reflection in the mirror for a long time, still not quite believing what was happening. His first day of high school and he was being allowed to go to a coed school. It was unheard of, within the Souma family, for one of the cursed to be allowed so frequently in the company of someone of the opposite sex who wasn't family.  
  
Yuki ran a comb through his grey hair again and wondered if he'd be teased for it here like he had been at that last school he'd gone to. Not that it really mattered. He put the comb down and continued to stare at himself in the mirror that hung over his desk. Shigure had bought him the desk after enrolling him in the high school, saying it was to much work to move the desk at his other house.  
  
"Why should I move something that heavy when I can have the people from the store put a new one in your room?" Shigure had asked with a lazy wave of his fan when Yuki had asked him. "Unless you're suddenly going to become social and do your homework at the table with me around, then you'll have to have a desk. If you don't do well in your schoolwork, then Akito will have you go home. I promised him I'd take care of you, didn't I? That includes making sure you do your homework."  
  
The thought of going back, facing that tiny dark room again, made Yuki shiver for a moment. He couldn't do it. Not after months of relative freedom with Shigure. What if Akito gave him back to his foster parents?  
  
For the third time in the past twenty minutes, Yuki straightened his new school uniform and wondered how he was supposed to get his tie on right. Before, one of the kind maids at the estate had always helped him with it and now he couldn't get the darned thing straight. Well, there was no two ways about it. He would have to ask Shigure for help.  
  
With an empty school bag in one hand, Yuki slowly made his way down stairs. As he did, Yuki reflected on how lucky he was. He finally had a home where he wasn't stared at all day, where he didn't feel any pressure to be anything. Shigure was so easy going it was easy to make the mistake that he was lazy and had a relaxing atmosphere around the house. Shigure didn't believe in formality and had told Yuki outright that Yuki could do pretty much what he pleased. If he wanted to go into town to watch a movie, he didn't have to ask permission. If he wanted to go to the coed high school, as Yuki had been asking to do for ages, he could. Shigure didn't care so long as Yuki always made sure to be careful. The best part, Yuki had discovered, was that Shigure let him have a garden. It wasn't a big garden by any means, but it was Yuki's. All in all, it was a good life.  
  
"I wanted to see him off on his first day, 'Gure! The first day of high school is so important for a young man."  
  
Yuki froze when he heard the enthusiastic voice of his older brother. He scowled and started back up the stairs. The last thing he wanted was to see his brother. Ayame was always so happy. He was an idiot. 'Can't he see how horrible things are?' Yuki hated his brother's eternal good mood. Ever since he'd come to live with Shigure, Ayame always seemed to be around and he always wanted to talk to Yuki. 'He says he wants us to be closer, but I can't stand him! Every time he's in the room, he's yelling about something and he's always touching. I hate it when he touches me.' Yuki went to through the house and then back downstairs to the back door. He'd skip breakfast if that meant he could leave without seeing Ayame. 'It's not as if he REALLY wants to know me, anyway. He wants to make himself feel better because he ignored me for so long. He only cares about himself. That and he wants to flirt with Shigure.'  
  
Yuki left the house, hoping that no one would see him. If Ayame saw him, he might try to walk to school with Yuki and that would really ruin the start of his first day.  
  
Ayame-  
  
Ayame watched Yuki walk away, walking faster than normal. "How's his asthma? No attacks?"  
  
"None lately." Shigure answered, pouring more tea for himself and Ayame. "Hatori says the long walks into town are good for Yuki, so I haven't bothered to get a car. Hatori also says he told Tashei and Yoko to let Yuki get more exercise when he was younger, but apparently they didn't listen. It wasn't until he appealed to Kazuma that Kazuma went to Akito and offered lessons for Yuki. That's when the asthma started getting better."  
  
"Good." Ayame's normally cheery voice was more than a little subdued as he kept his eyes on Yuki until the boy turned a corner in the path and disappeared.  
  
"It was good of you to warn him that you were here." Shigure commented. "Raising your voice like that when you heard him coming down the stairs."  
  
"Like I said, it's an important day for him. I didn't want to upset him to much." Ayame knew that Yuki practically hated him and really couldn't blame his little brother. Ignored for all those years, practically forgotten, it was easy to hate. Ayame wouldn't stop trying, though. Better late than never, after all, and Yuki really did seem to be getting better as he continued to live with Shigure. At least now he spoke and, when Ayame visited, Yuki would yell at the top of his lungs. Ayame couldn't find it in himself to get downhearted about Yuki yelling at him. 'He gives me more of a reaction than anyone else.' That was something, wasn't it? Even if it wasn't a good reaction, it was a reaction. "You're sure he doesn't need anything? Something I can get him or give him?"  
  
Shigure shook his head. "Not really. He's pretty content with that little garden of his. Oh, I did as you asked. I didn't tell him you were the one who gave me those seeds, he thinks I bought them for him."  
  
"I'm glad. If he knew they were from me, he might not have used them." Ayame smiled. He knew Shigure thought he was wrong about doing it, but at least he knew Yuki was happy. He'd go into the city later and buy some more seeds for his brother.  
  
Tohru-  
  
  
  
It all happened after the new boy had been introduced. Sitting at the back of the class, between Uo-chan and Hana-chan, Tohru could barely see the short boy. She did hear a murmur of appreciation from half the class when he walked in, escorted by the headmaster, and stood silently at the front of the class with his head slightly bowed.  
  
"Class, this is Souma Yuki, he's a new transfer student. I hope you'll all show him the kindness of helping him out until he adjusts. Yuki," The teacher reached out to put a hand on Yuki's shoulder, but Yuki turned abruptly so he was facing her. "You can have any free seat. I hope you enjoy your time with us."  
  
While he walked down the aisle to a seat a few rows away from Tohru, Tohru got a good look at him. Yuki was as pale as Hana-chan, not something that Tohru saw often, but his hair was the strangest color. It was sort of silver, but it also looked a bit purple, so that in the changing light, Tohru couldn't be sure what color it was. He walked as he had stood, with his head bowed slightly, staring at his shoes, and slid into his desk without making a sound. Once there, he studiously ignored everyone and kept his hands folded neatly on his desk.  
  
It was hard to miss the fact that nearly every girl and a few of the boys in class were all starry eyed as they stared at Souma Yuki. Tohru even saw a few of them drooling and it wasn't hard to tell why. Souma-kun was very good looking, though she thought he must be a bit scared, as he was new in school and everything.  
  
The day went on pretty quietly, but still, Tohru was having a hard time shaking the feeling that something horrible had happened. She couldn't concentrate and even when Hana-chan or Uo-chan would speak to her, Tohru couldn't seem to focus on their words. 'I'm just over tired. I should take a nap at lunch. Hana-chan and Uo-chan will wake me up before class starts.' Tohru hated the fact that she couldn't seem to do anything on the first day of high school. How was she supposed to make her mom happy if she couldn't even do simple schoolwork. As much as she loved Hana-chan and Uo-chan, the most important thing in Tohru's life was making her mom happy.  
  
"Honda-san."  
  
The voice broke Tohru out of her thoughts and she looked up to see the headmaster standing in the doorway.  
  
"Yes?" Tohru stood politely, but worried. She didn't think she'd done anything wrong.   
  
The headmaster looked pale and nervous and he looked at Tohru's teacher. "I need to speak with Honda-san for a moment. If you'll excuse her."  
  
"Of course." The teacher nodded and motioned for Tohru to go with the headmaster.  
  
As she walked out, Tohru heard Hana-chan's ominous voice whisper in her mind, "Be strong, dear Tohru. We'll help you through this."  
  
Tohru glanced over her shoulder to find Hana-chan nearly in tears, hunched over her desk. Uo-chan had a hand on Hana-chan's shoulder, trying to quietly comfort her and Tohru had a growing feeling of dread. Hana-chan had a talent of knowing things before everyone else did and if she was almost in tears because of it...  
  
"Honda-san," The headmaster closed the classroom door behind Tohru, giving them the privacy of speaking in the hallway. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but I have a police officer in my office who needs to speak with you. I'm afraid it isn't good news. Your mother's been in a car accident at about six thirty this morning. It was on her way to work this morning, a drunk driver hit her."  
  
Tohru swayed at his words and the headmaster had to catch her arm so she wouldn't fall.  
  
"Please, come with me, Honda-san." His voice was filled with pity, but that was the last thing Tohru wanted. "The police need to speak with you. You're excused from classes for the rest of the day."  
  
Tohru didn't wait a moment before she took off running. Her mind was nearly blank with panic. 'This can't be happening. What am I going to do? Maybe it was a mistake. Yeah...a mistake.' But it wasn't a mistake. There was a uniformed police officer waiting in the Headmaster's office and he was holding her mom's purse. Tohru knew it was her mom's, it had to be. It had a key chain that Tohru had bought for her mom last Christmas hanging off the zipper pull.  
  
"No." Tohru's voice came out as painful moan and the world went dark as she fainted.  
  
America, San Francisco  
  
Count D-  
  
D knew something was wrong almost as soon as it had happened. One of the pets he'd sold was suddenly without an owner, orphaned. That, D knew, was a potentially fatal situation depending on what animal had been orphaned. Most animals were capable of looking after themselves, but some of them were more vulnerable than others.  
  
Without hesitation, D went to one of the back rooms of his petshop, the room where all the contracts were carefully stored. It was one of the most highly guarded rooms for without those documents there would be nothing to bind the pets to their owners and vice versa. Outside the only door that led into that room were two of the best guard dogs D had ever had the luck to acquire. Both with fine, handsome specimens and rarely moved from their posts. Even food was brought to them so they wouldn't have to leave the door for any reason.  
  
"Good morning, Count." One of the twin dogs smiled down at D, showing off his sharp teeth.  
  
"Good morning." D replied with a smile. Both males had served him well with unfailing loyalty and D was grateful to have them. As D passed the guards, who lounged on either side of the door as if they were nothing but lazy lap dogs, D was proud to know that anyone who tried to get in but himself and his family would have been ripped to pieces by the two dogs. They were savage creatures; a breed never tamed by humans.  
  
Inside the dark room, there was a lantern that gave off just enough light to read by. D didn't have to light the lantern, it was always lit. How this happened really wasn't important. D went through the contracts one at a time until he found the right one. It was a more difficult task than anyone would probably imagine, but to D it really wasn't all that demanding. He had to file through the contracts that had been broken and the ones that were still active. It took hours until he found the right one.  
  
HONDA KYOKO CONTRACT FOR ONE NIGHTINGALE EGG  
  
He knew instinctively, when his long fingers touched the contract that the human woman, Kyoko, had died. That meant his poor little Nightingale was alone somewhere in the world. She had followed the contract precisely and it was just ill fortune that had led to her death.   
  
'It is of little concern.' D thought, placing the contract in one of the deep pockets of his robe. 'The nightingale will come back to me when she realizes her purpose is gone. She was born to give love to the person she was sold to. With that person gone, she will be lost. She will find her way back to me, they always do.'  
  
So D let himself stop worrying about the nightingale, confident that she would return soon enough.  
  
He prepared to leave the records room when something caught his attention. Strangely enough, it was Q-chan who made D notice it. Q-chan always followed D everywhere and this was no exception.  
  
"Q-chan!" D scolded when he saw Q-chan digging through stacks of papers, spilling most of them onto the floor. "What are you doing? It will take me ages to straighten this up!" The horned, winged rabbit took flight when D came over to where it had been digging and stooped to start cleaning up the mess. On the floor, on the very bottom of the whole mess D had found a single sheet of paper, turned yellow and brittle with age. Even the words had started to fade, telling D that this was probably one of the oldest papers in the whole room and it could have been centuries old. Strangely, it wasn't written in D's handwriting. It also wasn't a contract.  
  
It had been written by Papa D.  
  
~I've found them. The Zodiac, the Junikyu. I want them. Even more than I want the Tou-Tetsu, I want these animals. I can't begin to describe their utter beauty. Every one of them is as beautiful than a god, but more than anything, I want the cat. How could I describe him? Like a glorious sunrise, this one is not only powerful and beautiful, but has the power to...~   
  
The words faded away into nothing, leaving D more curious than anything. The ink hadn't faded with time, some of these contracts were thousands of years old, but the ink never faded and the paper never disintegrated. Papa D had just stopped writing, as if something had caught his attention and drawn him away from his writing, making for forget it. This paper had probably laid under the piles of contracts, forgotten for centuries.  
  
'Zodiac? Junikyu? What is all this?' He'd honestly never heard of anything like this. 'That was papa's handwriting. Now I wonder what he wanted more than my dear Tet-chan? He certainly never mentioned anything to me. I'll have to ask Sofu when I see him next.'  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: To answer some questions.  
  
Muchacha: I'm glad you like the Petshop parts. They're going to start increasing in the next chapter, I hope. Yes, I do have a tendency to babble on as I write. Sigh...  
  
Kireina: Jill is Leon's best friend/big sister type/ and the person he's closed to besides D and Chris. I like her, I think she's a bit underrated. Yes, she was the one making fun of Leon. Actually, for D and Leon's first meeting, I got that from the anime, word for word. I just changed a tiny little bit about what I think they were thinking at the time. Sadly, no they don't show off D's lighter side in the anime, but at least we see it in the manga. I love that bit about crushing the bird bones for Leon.  
  
Grrl N: I always thought that as depressed as Yuki seems to be when he thinks no one is watching him, he probably was suicidal before Shigure took him away from the estate. I figure if Yuki is such a fantastic fighter and he's got the disadvantage of having asthma, then Ayame, with no such disadvantage could be fantastic. Maybe in their family, fighting talent is hereditary. As for Tohru's true nature...that is yet to come.  
  
Mei-rei chan: Yup, Jill was the woman with Leon when Tet-chan came into the story. Don't worry about Tohru, I wouldn't ignore the cute little ongiri.  
  
Ayako: Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it. Yes :) I am evil and very proud of it.  
  
E-san: Yes, my poor darling Akito. I just adore him, even if I am making him as nuts as possible. Poor communication is a tiny bit of a problem with the Souma's, isn't it?  
  
Dragonic Ice: I'm glad you like the background for the Fruits Basket family. I was afraid people wouldn't like it, but it's so much fun to write. One day, I hope we'll see a detailed history for all the family instead of just a hint here and there.  
  
Tri: Don't worry, I'll take good care of our darling Yuki. I won't let him get hurt...much.  
  
Ssjgoddesschico: Don't worry about not reviewing every chapter, I'm pleased you wrote even once to say you liked it. Yuki had deliberately upset his foster parents and got them to attack him, thus bringing on an asthma attack. When it wasn't strong enough to do any damage, he smoked a cigarette to try and kill himself. As for pairings...well, you'll just have to read and find out.  
  
Aori-Tsuki: You'll make me blush if you go on like that, but I am rather pleased with the way this fic is turning out. I've tried to give all the Souma's a place in this fic, but it's hard to give them enough time, they're all so wonderful. Hmmm...so, you're guessing Shigure and Akito, huh? Well, keep reading and you'll find out. This chapter might have given you a pretty strong clue about Shigure's feelings, though.  
  
Silverdrake: (blush) I love you, too, sweetie. Thanks for reviewing. Hmmm...Leon leading D and Ayame around? I'm not sure. I rather think D wouldn't stand for anyone else having Leon's attention.  
  
Zeynel: Hi, nice to hear from you again. Hee, hee. I can't tell you what comes next. That's cheating. Well, you got to see a bit of Hana-chan and Uo-chan in this chapter. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the Akito and Kisa incident, but I have his little 'falling out' (Hee, hee. Sorry, bad pun) with Rin all planned out.  
  
YYHfreak: I hope you liked Haru's part. I know it wasn't a lot, but if I'm trying to give each character at least a little time in the spotlight. I'll try to give Haru more time later. I'm glad this isn't to depressing, but, let's face it, you can't write about the Souma's without being at least a little depressing.  
  
Kay the Cricketed: (Story purrs happily while being petted) My head swells at your praise, thank you so much. I'll try to keep up the quality and keep the story interesting. Now, don't be so hard on Ren. I need her later. (Giggles evilly). I can't wait to find out, in the manga, who Ren really is, but I have plans for her in this story. She's necessary. Shigure, I think, has more serious moments in the manga, and they're pretty heavy moments, at that. Can't wait to hear from you again and good luck on the school reports.  
  
Sarlina: I actually thought about poisoning Kyou, but, since I'd already poisoned poor Yahiko, it seemed redundant. I guess seeing his mom blow her brains out was traumatic enough. Yep, dear Kazuma will always take good care of his kitty cat.  
  
Again, to all you reviewers, thanks again for taking the time to write, I really do appreciate it. Sometimes, your comments help me add to the story and give me great ideas for up coming chapters.  
  
Till next time,  
  
Cousin D 


	12. Black Scorpion

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to post, but my disk died and all my future chapters have been erased. Sigh...Now I've had to rewrite everything.  
  
Remember Shigure's little stone Junikyu in the first episode? Ever wonder what happened to them?  
  
Ritsu's mother once told Tohru that her child traveled the world. Ever wonder where he went?  
  
Thanks to all the reviewers, passed 100 reviews and that's a record for me!  
  
Long Denied  
  
Chapter 12: Black Scorpion  
  
Tohru-  
  
"Don't cry, mom. Please, don't cry."  
  
"You have to remember, life's hard. It's never easy."  
  
"I know, mom." Tohru's mom always said that when it had been a hard day and she came home looking so tired. "Don't be afraid. It'll be all right. I'll make sure everything works out." Tohru wasn't sure how she would do that, but she knew it was very important to make her mom happy. It was her dearest wish, ever since she could remember, to make her mom happy.  
  
"Will it?" Kyoko put her arms around Tohru as they sat together on the floor of their apartment. "I lost my job, Tohru. There's no money to pay the rent and no money for food. Is it really going to be all right?"  
  
"Yes, mom." Tohru said, completely faithful that life would turn out the way it was meant to. She didn't know how, but she would fix it if she had to. That was all that mattered, making her mom happy. "I promise."  
  
Kyoko looked at her with eyes that seemed startled by Tohru's unflinching faith that the world would do as she thought it should before she began crying and lay her head on Tohru's little shoulder. "My precious..." Kyoko whispered. "What would I do without you?"  
  
Tohru laughed. "You don't have to think about that, mom. I'll always be here. I'll always love you."  
  
"Don't talk like that, Tohru." Kyoko pulled away slightly and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "You don't have to always be with me. One day, you'll want to leave and have your own life. That's all right, I want you to have your own life. It's normal for you to fall in love and..."  
  
The thought horrified Tohru. "NO!" She cried, throwing her arms around her mom and hugging her as tightly as she could. "I don't want to leave you, mom. Please, I don't want to leave you!" Tohru's eyes stung with tears of fear. She had never been able to understand why anyone would want to fall in love, she was already devoted to her mother. "Don't make me leave you, mom. I want to always be with you."  
  
The thought of being alone terrified Tohru more than she could say. Her whole life centered on her mom, she really didn't care to much for other people, only mom. It was only because her mom had once commented that she was worried about Tohru's lack of friends that Tohru tried to make any. She was glad she had, in the end, that was how she'd met Uo-chan. She had no desire for friends or learning or anything unless it made her mom happy.  
  
Kyoko patted Tohru's hair, her eyes filled with grief, but also with something else. "Oh, sweetie. Sometimes, I wonder..."  
  
"Wonder what, mom?" Tohru asked, looking up at her mom's worried face.  
  
"I worry, Tohru." Kyoko put on hand against Tohru's cheek and studied her face carefully. "I worry that he's going to come and take you away. He was right, you know. He sold me my hope, my dream."  
  
"He who?" Tohru asked. She had a brief, fleeting memory of a man with mismatched eyes, but it was like a faded dream. She had the instinctive feeling that her mom was talking about this man, but that couldn't be. "No one will ever take me away from you, mom. I'll stay with you forever, I promise."  
  
"Honey, you're twelve. You're going to feel different when you're sixteen or seventeen and some great guy comes into your life and sweeps you off your feet."  
  
"No, I won't. No one's ever going to be as important to me as you are." Tohru had no doubts about that and she met her mom's eyes easily. "Tell me who you're afraid will take me away, please. I'll stay far away from him."  
  
Kyoko shook her head. "It doesn't matter. He said he was going away. He won't take you away from me, not now, it's been so long. I was afraid that if I didn't give you a good enough life that he'd take you away. He didn't seem quite human, but I guess my mind was playing tricks on me. Of course he was human. Never mind me, dear. I'm being foolish. Don't you worry about a thing. I'll get a new job tomorrow. I hear the supermarket's hiring. We'll have ramen for dinner, anyway."  
  
Tohru woke up and stared, for a moment, at the orange plastic of her tent. It glowed slightly as the morning sun shone through it. A soft breeze made the light plastic rustle and Tohru remembered where she was. Alone.  
  
The dream had been a memory of years ago, when her mom was still alive and well, and Tohru still felt the pain of loss. Her mom had been dead for a week now, but the pain of her loss hadn't diminished one bit.  
  
'I promised mom I'd never leave her alone.' Tohru rolled over onto her side and her eyes instantly fell on the photograph of her smiling mom. 'So...why did she leave me?' The question hung in Tohru's mind for a depressingly long time. She loved her mom so much. Why did she have to die? A car accident. Just an accident. It could have happened to anyone. If her mom had just stayed home from work that day or had left home five minutes earlier or later, everything would have been fine. Now, there was nothing Tohru could do for her mom.  
  
Tohru had stood at her mom's grave with Hana-chan and Uo-chan at her sides, both hugging her and mourning with her. Tohru knew that Uo-chan thought a lot of Tohru's mom, it had taken a lot of courage for Uo-chan to get away from that gang and she probably wouldn't have done it without Tohru's mom. Hana-chan cared a great deal for Tohru, and Tohru knew that Hana-chan really had no friends before they'd met. They were both so special to Tohru that Tohru was glad her mom had wanted her to make friends.  
  
She knew they were with her to support her and to show respect for her mom, but in one terrible moment, Tohru wanted them to just disappear. She didn't want to hear them crying and didn't want to see them. Yes, it was a selfish thought. Tohru wanted to be alone so she could kill herself.   
  
That was what the small kitchen knife was for, so she could do it. Tohru wanted to die so badly, but she didn't want to make anyone else sad so Tohru had planned to wait until she was alone. After all, without her mom, Tohru was nothing. How could she life without her mom? Nothing mattered now. Who was she supposed to live for? Who would need her like her mom had needed her? Who should she make happy?  
  
Then, Uo-chan had rubbed her hand up and down one of Torhu's arms and said something that reminded Tohru of her responsibility.  
  
"Do you think you'll go back to school tomorrow?"   
  
It was such a simple question, but Tohru had no answer. She had never really had an interest in learning and only went because it made her mom happy. Her only friends were Hana-chan and Uo-chan and, though the thought of hurting them made her squirm, Tohru knew they were both strong. They didn't really need her and she owed her mom her loyalty. She had to keep her promise, never to leave her mom. Hana-chan and Uo-chan would be all right if Tohru left them. She really should, she promised mom...the small knife felt very heavy in Tohru's pocket.  
  
'I'm not afraid. I have to keep my promise.' Tohru didn't like the fluttering in her stomach when she thought about the knife and felt her friends arms around her. She couldn't be afraid. She couldn't break her promise.  
  
"Your mother said she wanted you to finish high school, didn't she?" Hana-chan spoke with her normally soft voice, though her hand tightened where it lay on Tohru's arm, as if she knew what was going through Tohru's mind. "I think it was important to her."  
  
"Yes." Tohru replied, her voice still dull with grief. It seemed like she'd cried for hours. "She told me...she said I had to. I had to get my diploma." That was it, then. She couldn't join her mom again until after she'd done the last thing her mom wanted her to do. First, graduate high school, then...then she could be with her mom again.  
  
Tohru sat up in the tent, ducking her head so she wouldn't bump it against the poles that held the tent up. 'Well, I can't just lay here. There's to much to do and it'll take an hour to walk to school.' Tohru knew her mom would hate for her to show any weakness; her mom was so strong and Tohru was sure she would want Tohru to be strong, too. Even if life was so hard, Tohru had to be strong. Living in a tent wasn't so bad. At least she had fresh air and peace and quiet. No loud cars around or choking smog from the city.  
  
"No time for laying about!" Tohru said out loud, keeping a bright smile on her face as she stepped out of the tent to get dressed. It was really to small to change her clothes inside the tent and, though modesty made her nervous and red-faced, Tohru stepped out into the cool morning air. She pulled off her pajamas and dressed in her slightly rumpled school uniform as quickly as possible, though the possibility of someone seeing her this far out in the forest was very slim. Tohru couldn't stand the thought of someone seeing her undressed.  
  
Her school uniform was in need of a wash and Tohru though that maybe she should stop at the Laundromat after work. Then there was food to be thinking about, she had to find something to eat since she didn't get paid for another two days. So much to worry about, but it would only be for a couple of years. Life would get easier when she could move back in with her grandfather and when she started getting paid at her job. She crawled back into the small tent to grab her school bag and her eyes fell again on her mom.  
  
"I'm doing this for you, mom. I'll do my best to make you happy." Even if she didn't really see the point in living without her mom, Tohru would keep going on until she got her diploma. During her walk towards school, Tohru noticed a large house she hadn't seen before.  
  
Shigure-  
  
"Going out, Yuki?" Shigure asked, watching Yuki pull on his dirty, worn gardening gloves.  
  
"What does it look like?" Yuki answered in a slightly distasteful tone, as if just talking to Shigure were beneath him.  
  
Shigure didn't mind. At least Yuki was talking and had interest in something. "Well, I suppose it's to much to hope for that you're going out on a date." Shigure sighed dramatically. "Such a pity and I was sure that you'd be able to pick out one girl at your school that you'd like above the others. Or boy, far be it from me to limit your choices. You know, if it's a boy you're interested in..."  
  
"Shut up!" Yuki snapped, irritably as he walked away. "You know damned well what I'm doing, so just leave me alone!"  
  
Shigure smiled at Yuki's back, not bothering to tell Yuki what he knew. Yuki was getting better, but it was happening very slowly. To slowly. Still, Yuki was right. Shigure did know where Yuki was going and he knew why Yuki was going there. Tomorrow was Akito's birthday and Yuki was going to pick a bouquet of flowers for him.  
  
'How Yuki would hate it if anyone found out he gave Akito flowers for a birthday gift.' Shigure chuckled at the thought. No one would ever imagine that Yuki had any kind of romantic feelings for Akito; that would never happen. Though Shigure was the last one on Earth who would preach the immortality of homosexual love, he was very sure that nothing would ever develop between Akito and Yuki. They simply had to much bad blood between them.   
  
Yuki feared Akito more than he feared anyone else, even his foster parents who'd regularly beaten him. It was tradition to give the head of the family a gift on his birthday, though, and Yuki couldn't break tradition. The young rat usually ended up giving Akito the best flowers from his garden. He always seemed more than a little embarrassed when he handed Akito the bouquet, especially since the gifts were normally given at a gathering and Yuki had to do it in front of everyone.   
  
Everyone in the family knew Yuki didn't feel that 'way' about Akito, even Akito himself knew, but that didn't stop Yuki from blushing dark red when Akito took the flowers from him. It wasn't a pleasant blush, either. Embarrassment from making a spectacle of himself in front of everyone made Yuki blush. Yuki was so painfully modest and bashful, though, that he always felt as if everyone were watching him and judging him. He'd had the notion that he had to be perfect ingrained into him practically since birth and he was having a hard time learning to be a normal sixteen year old boy. He had to give the perfect gift, had to make Akito happy.  
  
Yuki was simply giving his best for Akito and, as Yuki really didn't have any interests outside his little garden, there was nothing else he could give Akito.  
  
It was the same with all the cursed members of the family, the gift for Akito that was something personal and usually hand made. Even Kyou normally gave Akito a gift, though he wouldn't be invited to the gathering. Instead, Kyou would present Akito with the gift privately. It was another example of how the cat was excluded. The gifts always varied, but they were always given from the heart, trying to show their respect and gratitude for the sacrifice Akito made for them.  
  
Shigure had thought long and hard about what to give Akito. Akito wasn't exactly the easiest person to buy for. Not only did he have no hobbies, job, or any interests outside the inner circle of the Souma family, but everyone in the family would be giving him a gift, not just the Junikyu. Shigure knew that Akito wouldn't have the slightest interest in most of the gifts given to him and that, often, Kureno would sell off the unwanted gifts and put the money into one of the family's accounts.  
  
There was a reason for all the gifts and it wasn't because they wanted Akito to be happy. It was another one of the more distasteful Souma traditions that everyone in the family who gave the head of the family a gift on their birthday was to be granted a single favor.  
  
'Stupid tradition.' Shigure thought, as he contemplated what he should give Akito. "He gets irritated and takes it out on everyone around him. Whoever started this tradition should have been shot with a dull bullet.' Shigure hated Akito's birthday, even though he worked hard to give Akito the perfect gift. He liked giving Akito gifts, but he hated that damned tradition. It made Akito so unhappy. 'He's got reason to be unhappy. I'd be pissy, too, if the only reason people gave me birthday presents was because I would have to give them a favor.' The mere fact that a lot of people would abuse the tradition of Akito's birthday and ask for things that might be illegal or hurt the family, meant that visitors were carefully screened before they were allowed to see Akito and Hatori was a harsh judge. First they had to get passed Kureno and then, Hatori would decide if they would be allowed to see Akito.  
  
Of course, Shigure would be allowed in, he always was. All Junikyu gave Akito gifts, it was expected, but they never asked favors. Again, it was expected. The perfect gift couldn't just be bought at a store, it had to be special.   
  
Shigure wanted his gift to stand out, even from the other Junikyu gifts. Every year Shigure worked hard to produce the perfect gift and he rarely failed to bring a smile to Akito's face. This year, Shigure wasn't sure what he was going to do. In his experience, simple gifts that had something to do with the family, were Akito's favorites. That was how he'd come to the idea to use rocks from his front garden. Shigure had never had any talent with painting, but he did his best to paint with black ink, the same stuff he used for his writing, on stones, trying to make them look somewhat like the twelve Junikyu animals. He debated on whether or not to include the cat, but it was hard to decide. His heart told him that Kyou belonged with the rest of them, but he didn't think Akito would appreciate it. In the end, Shigure did paint a cat, but he made sure Akito wouldn't notice it. He painted a very small cat's face on the underside of the stone he used for the dog's face and seriously doubted that Akito would turn over the rock to look at the bottom.  
  
When he was finished with the gift, Shigure left the twelve stones on the back porch to dry and went back inside his house. Aside from all the family worries, Shigure still had a job to do and he had a deadline in just a few weeks with three chapters left to his latest novel.   
  
On his way to his study, Shigure passed Yuki's bedroom and noted, with a bit of despair, that the room was still spartan and bland. In almost an entire year since Yuki had come to live with Shigure, Yuki hadn't made any effort to make the room a home and it had no personal affects besides Yuki's school bag sitting neatly on the desk and a mirror that Yuki had turned to face the wall. It seemed that Yuki hated looking at himself as much as Ayame did. Yuki had improved a bit during his stay with Shigure but, despite the fact that Yuki hadn't tried to kill himself lately, Shigure was still worried. They boy hadn't made any friends at school, at least none he ever spoke of. Hatori said this was because of that 'incident' when so many of Yuki's friend had had their memories taken when Yuki was a child.   
  
"He learned very suddenly that friends will only bring him pain." Hatori had explained, his own dead voice giving away none of the pain he must have felt at remembering what he'd done to Yuki. "He won't make any friends, because he's afraid he'll lose them. It hurts to much to lose someone once you give them your heart. He isn't brave enough to try again. Not yet, anyway."   
  
Shigure still remembered that day years ago when Hatori had come staggering to Shigure's house and collapsed, weeping, into Ayame's arms. He'd cried for a long time that day and felt a great deal of guilt for the pain Yuki had suffered.  
  
Shigure had hoped that starting a new school without any other Souma's around would give Yuki the courage to try making friends. Apparently, though, sending Yuki to school with girls wasn't as good an idea as Shigure had thought it would be. The girls made Yuki more nervous and introverted than normal and Yuki couldn't relate to the other boys at all. So Yuki went to school, easily  
  
made excellent grades, stayed out of trouble, and was massively popular. Still, he radiated an atmosphere of being deeply unhappy and nothing Shigure did or said could shake it. Yuki never really smiled.  
  
'I'll have to think of something else. I don't know what else to do, though. I'd like to send him to a therapist, but it's to dangerous. He won't talk to anyone in the family, including me, and I don't even think he realizes how much danger he's in. He just doesn't care anymore.'  
  
When Shigure returned to his painted stones a short while later, after a painful battle with writer's block, he stopped short at the sight of a young girl in a school uniform admiring the stones Shigure had painted.  
  
She wasn't human.  
  
She stood near his porch, smiling innocently at the collection of rocks Shigure had just painted. She was small and frail looking, with arms and legs that were a little to thin to be properly healthy. Her brown hair was quite long and looked a bit scraggly at the ends, as if she needed a haircut, though it looked clean and tidy. Her face was broad with large eyes that seemed enchanted with the stones.  
  
For a moment, Shigure just stood there, with his newspaper in his hands, staring at the girl who seemed to be oblivious to the fact that he was less than five feet away. She LOOKED human, but wasn't. Shigure looked the girl up and down, trying to decide what was wrong but he couldn't see a thing about her that was out of the ordinary. She LOOKED like a normal girl, but she wasn't.   
  
"My word! Do my eyes deceive me or is there a strange young girl standing on my porch?" Shigure spoke at last, irritated with himself for not knowing what about the girl was wrong. His nose was telling him she couldn't be human, yet his eyes were telling him that she obviously was human.  
  
"Ah! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I was just looking. I didn't mean to barge in without permission!" She panicked, looking extremely embarrassed and perhaps even afraid that she thought Shigure would beat her for just standing around.  
  
"It's all right. I just set them out to dry, no harm done."  
  
They spoke like this for a while, a pleasant, meaningless chatter. The girl, or whatever she was, admiring Shigure's stone paintings and telling him about some story her mother had told her about the legend of the Zodiac animals while Shigure was trying to figure out what the girl was. She was disappointed when she found that there was no cat in Shigure's Zodiac and told him how sorry she felt that the poor cat had to be forever alone. Shigure thought of Kyou, living pretty much happily on the other side of the city with Kazuma and wondered who really had the worst part of the deal. Was it Kyou, the outcast of the family, or Yuki, the treasured 'darling' of the family who was kept so close he was virtually a prisoner in his own home until Shigure had taken him away.   
  
She smelled entirely wrong. Humans smelled a certain way and animals smelled another way. Junikyu had their own, distinctive scent. This girl, though she did remind Shigure of the scent of some kind of animal, he couldn't figure out what animal she reminded him of. 'She can't be human, no matter what she looks like.' Shigure thought, carrying on the conversation with the girl, or whatever she was.  
  
Either his eyes or his nose was lying to him and Shigure wasn't sure what he should do. She didn't seem at all threatening, but Shigure's nose never failed him. She smelled strongly of humans, but her basic scent wasn't. She must have spent a lot of time with humans or the scent wouldn't be so well hidden. Shigure's mind filed through all the possibilities of who and what this Honda Tohru could be and found the choices limited. She couldn't be human, that was impossible. She couldn't be Junikyu, there were only thirteen cursed people, and they were all known. She could be like Akito who didn't smell exactly human, but didn't transform, but that didn't make any sense, either. There was only one head of the family.  
  
When she admitted that her zodiac sign was the dog, Shigure knew she was lying. He would have known if she were a dog. Still, he played along with her lie. "Funny, I wonder what he'll say when he hears he has a fan."  
  
"He?"  
  
Shigure realized his mistake at once and covered it quickly. "So, you were born in the year of the dog? I knew there was something I liked about you, besides your pretty face." It just wouldn't do to let outsiders, let alone someone Shigure couldn't tell what they were. Luckily, she either didn't notice Shigure's slip or she chose to ignore it. Unluckily, for Shigure, someone else did notice his last comment.  
  
A sharp, sudden pain made Shigure lose his train of thought and, when his head cleared, Yuki was standing over him, with a deceivingly sweet smile that he only wore for outsiders.  
  
"Please, forgive my cousin, Honda-san. He's a bit of a flirt, but he's harmless. In general it's usually just best to ignore him."  
  
The girl, Honda-san, looked at Yuki with something close to adoration and it was clear that whatever she was, she admired Yuki a great deal. 'So, not human, but with human reactions. She acts just like a girl with her first crush.' Shigure noted, seeing the girl's faint blush.  
  
Yuki was his usual, coolly polite self when he spoke to the girl and, much to Shigure's surprise, Yuki knew her. Honda Tohru, from school, was a girl in Yuki's class and she behaved like almost any other young girl would. She was slightly flushed at being in the company of a boy who was so obviously popular at school, but smiled sweetly at them.  
  
If Shigure had been any thinner skinned, he would think how ungrateful Yuki was to someone who'd saved his life. 'It's not as if he wanted to be saved, though.' Shigure admitted to himself, remembering how angry Yuki had been when he'd woken up and found that he hadn't died, as he'd planned to. There had been days of angry glaring and stomping around the house by Yuki. 'Well, he's going to have to get used to it. I don't care if he thinks I'm to nosy for my own good.'  
  
As Yuki spoke to Honda-san, Shigure was still thinking more of what the girl was rather than the conversation. He paid attention just enough to be surprised when she admitted that she lived close by. The fact was that she couldn't live close by, Shigure owned all the property around his house for almost a full half-mile. She was lying, but Shigure had no idea why.  
  
When Yuki suggested that he and Honda-san walk to school together Shigure felt a spark of worry. If he didn't know what Tohru was, how could he be sure that she wouldn't hurt Yuki? 'She can't be human, so Yuki might not be safe in her company.' Shigure watched the two teenagers walk away with suspicious, narrowed eyes. 'And I promised Akito that I'd protect Yuki.'  
  
Shigure followed them to school that day, trailing carefully behind the two and keeping a close eye on them. Tohru didn't threaten Yuki in anyway, though, and, in fact, seemed remarkably nervous just walking next to him. Nothing odd happened, except that Shigure got his first look at Yuki's 'fan club', and gained a new appreciation for Yuki's stamina in putting up with that nonsense.   
  
Shigure went home as soon as the two reached the gates of the high school, at least a little reassured that the girl wouldn't hurt Yuki. He was no wiser than he had been when he first saw her and that irritated Shigure more than anything had in a long time.  
  
Honda Tohru didn't seem to be at all dangerous. Still, Shigure hated mysteries and, when he returned home he decided to find out where she'd come from. It was easy to follow her strange scent through the forest until he found a tiny, bright orange tent. It didn't take a whole lot of effort to figure out she was homeless and had taken up squatting on Shigure's property.  
  
'What am I supposed to do about her?' Shigure asked himself as he walked once around her amateurish campsite. 'She hasn't even built a fire and the nights are still cold. She's got no food out here, I can't just let her live out here without saying anything. She's to close to the house and I'm still not sure if she's dangerous or not.' Shigure sighed before he got down on his hands and knees and peeked into the tent. There was next to nothing in it and barely enough room for a teenage girl to sleep. 'She's to close to the family, it would be bad if she saw someone transform and no one knew she was around.' So Shigure sat down on the grass to think. 'I can't leave her out here. Even if she isn't a real human girl, she obviously doesn't know how to survive out here. She'll die. I can't let her run around so close to my house or the estate unsupervised, it's to risky.' That was when the idea hit him. If he couldn't let her run around unsupervised and he wanted to solve the mystery of what she was, there was one very simple solution. She would live at his house.  
  
Shigure smiled. 'Now all I have to do is get to in the house without Yuki protesting. If I can get Yuki to think that it's his idea...'  
  
The next day-  
  
Kazuma's dojo-  
  
Kyou-  
  
To top it all off, it was raining. Kyou hated the rain. It made him feel so damned weak. Tired, like he wanted to just lay down somewhere warm and sleep. "I can't believe you're leaving me behind." Kyou muttered, leaning against the door of his master's bedroom as he watched his master pack. "Why? We went on a training trip just last year, so why do you have to go again?"  
  
"It's only for a little while." Kazuma said, sounding as if he were trying to pacify Kyou. "I really must go and I don't want to leave you here alone."  
  
"I'm sixteen, it's not like I'm a little kid!" Kyou protested, though it sounded more like a whine with how weak he was feeling. Kyou just couldn't make himself as angry as usual. "I don't need Shigure to baby sit me! Shigure, of all people! He's a lazy pervert and he acts like an idiot."  
  
"That's not a very kind way to speak of someone who was good to you." Kazuma said in a disapproving tone. "Shigure was good and generous to you when you needed him."  
  
Kyou didn't like to be reminded of that short time between his mother's death and when Kazuma had adopted him. It had been a very frightening few days and even Shigure's kindness hadn't been able to soften the fear or anger Kyou had felt for those days. "Yeah, I know." Kyou grumbled, not looking his master in the eyes. "I owe him, but I don't have to like him. Akito probably told him to let me stay at his house, ya know."  
  
Kazuma laughed softly. "I doubt even Akito 'tells' Shigure what to do. He seems to have a very solid idea of what he's doing and he has a reason for everything he does. It was kind of Shigure to offer you a home while I'm gone and I hope you'll show him due respect, both for this kindness and what he did for you in the past. When I told him I had to go for a while, Shigure jumped at the chance to have you stay with him. I expect he's as eager for Yuki to have someone his own age to talk to as I am for you." Kazuma folded another shirt and stuffed it into his satchel. "It's just the thing, I think. You spend to much time with me, Kyou. Even after school you never go to friend's houses or just out to fool around with the other boys. With Shigure, you can be around Yuki and have more contact with the family. I'm afraid I've kept you to far from them all this time."  
  
"I don't care about the family." Kyou crossed his arms and tried not to look like he was pouting. "I don't want to be anywhere NEAR Yuki! That damned rat just makes me furious, I hate the sight of him." Kyou also hated the idea of living with Shigure. That dog was never serious about anything and he was such an idiot. "Why can't I stay here or go with you? I wouldn't get in your way, master, I promise." The thought of going on a training journey into the mountains with his master was very tempting. Kyou liked nothing better than to have his master all to himself, without having to share him with his master's students or neighbors or even other family. "I can cook better than you, so I'll be a big help. What if something happens to you and you're all alone? An accident or you get attacked by a bear or something?"  
  
Kazuma smiled gently. "I know you'd help me, Kyou, but this is something I have to do on my own. You know I'm not leaving you behind because I don't care for you anymore or that I don't trust you. If the authorities find out I've left a minor here alone while I go gallivanting around the mountains they'd take you away from me. They'd make you go back to the estate and Akito would find another home for you."  
  
Kyou went cold at the thought of leaving Kazuma and the image of Akito declaring Kazuma an unfit guardian sent a chill down Kyou's spine. A hand landed on his shoulder and Kyou looked up at Kazuma.  
  
"I do trust you, Kyou, but this is for the best. I won't be gone all that long, perhaps a year, at most."  
  
"A year?!" Kyou stared at Kazuma in shock. Horrified at the thought of being parted for so long from the one person who'd shone him unfaltering love.  
  
"Yes, a year. This is very important to me. I'm sure you're strong enough to get along with Yuki for a short time like that. If you really don't like him, you can always avoid him."  
  
Kyou didn't know why his master spoke like that sometimes. 'If he didn't like Yuki?' what was that supposed to mean? Everyone knew that he and Yuki hated each other, that was the way it was supposed to be, right? If it hadn't been for the rat, Kyou might actually be accepted into the family. Not only that, but Yuki was always so damned smug and self-righteous. He thought he was better than everyone else and...and everything. Kyou just hated everything about Yuki, especially how he was treated like the prince of the family.  
  
"You're going to make me do this, aren't you?" Kyou asked, sitting on Kazuma's bed heavily. "You're going to make me live with Yuki? They've got a girl there, now, ya know. It's not safe. I don't know why, but they've got some stupid girl living there." In all honesty, Kyou hadn't even realized that the girl was in the room with him and Yuki until the girl had thrown her arms around him and transformed him. Was THAT ever embarrassing! To think that he'd let down his guard so badly and in front of Yuki, at that.  
  
"Oh? You mean that girl who transformed you?" Kazuma turned, but not before Kyou saw the smile on his master's face. "Shigure called and told me all about it. She sounds charming."  
  
"She's irritating! And you don't have to laugh, it wasn't funny! She managed to transform all of us in about thirty seconds. How stupid can she be to be that clumsy!?"  
  
"I don't know, why don't you ask her?"  
  
Kyou stomped out of Kazuma's room, growling under his breath and afraid that if he stayed longer he would yell at the man. He loved Kazuma, really. There was no one more important in Kyou's life than Kazuma; he was the one person who always treated Kyou with respect. The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt the closest thing to a father that he'd ever had.  
  
Kyou ended up in his bedroom and sat on his bed, now confronted with a new challenge. Not only did he face the future of living with Yuki and Shigure for the next year, but he still had to finish Akito's birthday present.  
  
'I hate this.' Kyou stared at the stupid, nearly finished project on his bed, wishing that it weren't raining so he could go train in the dojo. If only he didn't feel so weak... 'Dumb, dumb, dumb.' Then Kyou sighed and picked up the knitting needles again. At least no one would ever see the stupid thing except Akito and Kyou was pretty sure Akito would just throw it away. He'd just die if Yuki or Haru found out he could knit. It had been Kazuma's idea that Kyou learn to knit. It would give him something constructive to do on rainy days when Kyou go to weak to do much of anything.  
  
'Stupid tradition. I don't even like Akito and what kind of moron gives a present to a person he doesn't like? It's not like Akito's ever been nice to me.' Yet there he sat, knitting diligently with the dark green yarn and two knitting needles Kazuma had given him for last Christmas. 'Tradition, tradition...always the same with this family. Even Kazuma's giving Akito a gift before he leaves.'  
  
It only took a few hours before the dark green scarf was finished and Kyou looked at the gift with failing hope. 'Stupid idea. Never should have done it.' Why on Earth would Akito want a scarf? He rarely went outside and never in the winter. He's going to hate it.' Still, it was the best Kyou had to offer. It wasn't as if Kyou could give any of his fighting skills.  
  
"Kyou, its time to go to the estate." Kazuma called. "Are you ready?"  
  
"Yeah." Kyou yelled back, looking morosely at the scarf before he folded it into a neat little square. 'This is never going to work. He won't listen.'  
  
Later-  
  
Kyou was given a private audience with his god after the rest of the Junikyu had given Akito his gifts. Again, tradition. The cat wasn't part of the Junikyu, so it wasn't allowed to present its gifts with the others. Not that Kyou minded, really. In fact, Kyou rather thought that it was for the best if no one else heard what he was going to ask Akito. He'd been thinking about his request for quite some time and, as he entered the room with the knitted scarf in one hand, Kyou had a sinking feeling that not only would Akito not give him his wish, but that he'd get a beating for just asking. Akito was always in a sour temper on his birthday, anyway.  
  
Going through the motions that he'd been going through all his life, Kyou kept his eyes on the floor as he walked to stand just in front of Akito's chair, though Akito wasn't sitting in it. Instead, Akito stood next to the window where he seemed more interested in what was going on outside than in Kyou. Still, Kyou sat on his knees and held the scarf in his hands, trying not to look as nervous as he felt.  
  
"What have you brought me?" Akito asked, not taking his eyes off whatever it was he was looking at outside the window. He didn't sound at all eager for another gift and Kyou could hardly blame him. At the back of the room, just beyond Akito's chair, there were dozens upon dozens of still wrapped gifts still laying where Akito had obviously dropped them. Beside Akito's chair were the more valuable gifts that had been carefully and neatly set down. A collection of painted rocks, a small painting probably done by Hatori, a small bouquet for flowers, a box of candies probably made by Momiji, along with several others. Akito had, no doubt, had his fill of gifts for one day.  
  
Kyou leaned forward a bit and held out the scarf with both hands.  
  
There was a long, tense moment when Akito said nothing, just stared at Kyou's gift. Kyou felt sweat start to form on the back of his neck. Akito took the scarf from him with one, long fingered hand and Kyou couldn't help but think that it look like a skeleton's hand, all bony and sharp looking. "You made this? How unexpected."  
  
Akito walked away from Kyou, going to lean against the wall where he had been when Kyou had come in. He seemed to examine the gift for a moment before he let the scarf fall to the floor. Kyou couldn't help but notice that his scarf wasn't put with the treasured gifts from the Junikyu or with the unimportant gifts from the rest of the family. Even his gift was alone, as if Akito was afraid it would contaminate the rest of them.   
  
Kyou tried not to shake as he felt his hopes further fall and toyed with the idea of not asking his favor at all. But this was important and Kyou thought that if he didn't ask right then, that he'd never get up the courage again. "I ask a favor, Akito-sama." Kyou was very proud that his voice didn't tremble when he spoke and he kept his eyes on Akito's bare feet.  
  
"A favor?"  
  
Kyou felt sick at the tone of Akito's voice, but he couldn't be sure if Akito was amused or angry at the idea. It was so hard to tell with Akito.  
  
"Yes." Kyou answered bravely, desperately wishing he weren't alone with the head of his family. It wasn't that he was afraid of Akito, not that he would admit, anyway. It was just that whenever Akito looked at him, Kyou could see the loathing in his eyes. "It's my right to ask. Just because we're cursed don't ask, doesn't mean we can't."  
  
"It's against all tradition. Don't I do enough for you, cat? Don't I give you life? I give you life and you think you have the right to ask more of me?"  
  
Kyou didn't move from his place on the floor, even when Akito slowly glided closer and closer towards Kyou. Kyou concentrated on Akito's small, narrow feet as Akito walked towards him. When Akito put both hands on Kyou's shoulders, Kyou flinched, but didn't pull away.   
  
"Are you getting greedy, monster? What do you ask of me? Riches? A new house? Oh," Akito gave a low laugh. "I know. I know what you want and I should have realized it at once." One of Akito's hands reached up and stroked the side of Kyou's face. "It's what you've always wanted, isn't it? Are you going to ask me to be apart of the Junikyu? Do you wish to be zodiac?"  
  
"No."  
  
Akito-  
  
Akito didn't like Kyou, but that didn't mean he could just abandon the cat. No matter what he looked like or smelled like or how frightening he was, Kyou was a Souma. He was cursed just like the rest of them and he needed Akito. It was nice to feel needed. He hadn't known Toma well, but Shigure often spoke of the previous cat in terms that nearly glowed with affection.  
  
"He was so gentle, Akito. His hands were rough, but he taught me to read and he would hold me when I was little and rock me to sleep." Shigure had said that long ago, when he still lived at the estate and had visited Akito nearly every day. "His voice was soft, he never yelled, and it was soothing. His voice could always calm me no matter what was going on."  
  
Akito hated the way Shigure's eyes would light up at the mention of the old cat. It set something hot and uncomfortable burning in the pit of his stomach. He didn't like listening to the way Shigure would talk about Toma, as if the old cat was the most important thing in the world and, when he sat in his chair and watched Kyou kneel before him, all Akito could see was Toma and what Shigure must have seen. He knew it was illogical; Shigure always described Toma as an old man, not the young man that Kyou was. Akito wondered if Shigure saw Toma in Kyou and wondered if the old cat had once had Kyou's eyes as red as blood.  
  
When he walked towards Kyou, Akito felt a terrible glee when he saw Kyou shutter imperceptibly before getting a hold of himself. It was good that Kyou be afraid of him. It almost made Akito feel that Toma was afraid of him and that was good. Surely, Shigure couldn't like someone who was weaker than Akito. Shigure was a strong person and he wouldn't like someone who was weak. He wouldn't like the frightened little cat.  
  
Kyou's answer surprised Akito more than he liked to admit. He liked to think that he knew his family better than anyone and he'd always heard Kyou going on about becoming a 'real' member of the family. That Kyou would have a wish so important to him that he would break tradition that WASN'T about becoming a part of the Zodiac, worried Akito.  
  
"No?" Akito asked, still keeping his hands on Kyou's face, running his fingers over Kyou's face. Akito liked touching Kyou's skin, it always felt so warm, as if there were a fire burning just under his skin. Perhaps it was the monster that was the source of that heat. The monster that slept just under Kyou's fair, freckled skin.  
  
It fascinated Akito that just under Kyou's very human skin lurked a monster, one of the hidden secrets of the Junikyu. It wasn't even remotely human and all that kept it hidden was a simple black and white bracelet on Kyou's wrist. Akito leaned down and pressed his cheek against Kyou's, drinking in the radiating heat. It seemed to give him energy.  
  
'I wonder what the bracelet is and how it works?' Akito thought as he pulled away slightly and studied the top of Kyou's orange head. 'It's just a bracelet, isn't it? How can it be magic? Doesn't really matter, I guess. People can't turn into animals, yet here we are.' Akito spend a few more minutes petting Kyou, running his fingers though Kyou's hair and trying to decide if he disliked Kyou because he was the cat or because of Shigure's affection for Toma.  
  
"What do you ask for, then? What does my beautiful monster wish for?"  
  
Kyou flinched at the 'beautiful monster' but it didn't deter him. For the first time since he walked into Akito's audience chambers, he looked up and met Akito's eyes with eyes as red as blood. "I want my freedom." His voice rang with desire and Akito was momentarily stunned at the request.  
  
"Don't we all?" Akito answered at last. "Freedom from the curse..."  
  
"No." Kyou's voice was almost harsh. "Not the curse, I know that's impossible." The bitterness in Kyou's face echoed what Akito knew all his family felt and what he himself felt. Hatred of what kept them apart from the rest of humanity. "I want to keep my freedom. When I finish high school I don't want to get locked up, like all the other cats."  
  
And understanding hit Akito. The doom of the cat was to be imprisoned after high school. It was tradition, the way it had been done since the very beginning of the Souma family. Akito wasn't sure why, but he was sure there must be a reason for the custom.  
  
'Don't give in to him.' The voice Akito had long since gotten used to spoke to him as he looked down at Kyou's beseeching face. 'You have to be strong. The cat must be locked up and kept close. If he's allowed freedom, he'll run away. We can't have that.'  
  
'Would it really matter?' Akito asked the voice. 'Why do we have to lock up the cat? It's not really that important, is it?' Akito rather liked the thought of letting Kyou run away. He didn't like Kyou being that close and didn't see why he should make everyone unhappy by keeping Kyou so close.  
  
'It IS important! Everything we have is tradition. You give into Kyou's demands and the whole family will start asking for the impossible. You already let Yuki go to a school with girls, what's next? Allowing marriage? You can't let him be free, who knows what will happen? There's a reason for the tradition, right?'  
  
'Well, I suppose there must be some reason, but what is it?'  
  
'It doesn't matter. If there wasn't a good reason, then none of it would have been started in the first place. Something terrible will happen if Kyou leaves. Our family will suffer if the cat leaves.'  
  
Akito had the strangest feeling that the voice in his head knew something that it wasn't telling him and he felt unreasonably angry at it. It just wasn't fair that his own mind was treating him like an imbecile. Shigure once told him that there was a reason for everything. There was a reason for rain to fall and a reason for the sun to rise and set. Even if the reason wasn't known, there was a reason. Akito's eyes went to the black and white beaded bracelet on Kyou's wrist and he wanted to know the reason. Why the bracelet?  
  
  
  
Kyou-  
  
Akito slid down to the floor until he knelt in front of Kyou and slid his arms around Kyou's neck. They were only inches from each other when Akito whispered into Kyou's face, "Why should I let you go? You get freedom for all these years, that's more than fair for something like you. What's waiting for you in the outside world? Do you really think you'll be able to find someone to love you, is that it? Are you hoping for love and a house with a white-picketed fence? A smiling wife and a couple of kids? It won't happen. Your life's never going to be normal."  
  
"I don't care." Kyou replied, struggling to keep his voice calm even though he was pretty sure Akito was telling the truth. He wasn't at all comfortable having Akito so close, even though he knew Akito was like this with all the Junikyu. Akito was known to turn violent at a moment's notice and Kyou knew he wouldn't be able to defend himself against Akito without hurting him. "I don't want any of that, I just don't want to be locked up. I'm not an animal and I never did anything wrong, I never hurt anyone, not even in my original form. I don't deserve to be locked up."  
  
Akito laughed and leaned his head down until it was resting on Kyou's shoulder. "You were born, Kyou. That's what you did wrong." He paused and seemed conflicted, something that made Kyou frown. Akito pushed away from Kyou a little, put a hand to his head and scowled, as if he suddenly had a dreadful headache. "No...no, I don't like that." When he focused again on Kyou, his voice was darker, even though he still smirked. "I'll make you a bet, Kyou. The prize is your freedom."  
  
"I'll do anything!" Kyou agreed quickly. To quickly, if the expression on Akito's face was anything to judge by.  
  
"Good. I want you to defeat Yuki, my beloved rat. Beat him, fair and honest. If you can do that, I'll give you freedom for the rest of your life. If you lose, you'll follow the fate of hundreds of other cats and spend the rest of your life locked in that tiny little house. If you're lucky, I may let you play in the garden. Shigure tells me your predecessor did that. So, do you agree? You must defeat Yuki."  
  
"Yes!" Kyou didn't care what the challenge was, he could do it! He could do anything! Kyou's worst fear was to be locked up in that house. Never to be able to leave or go for a run in the forest or even to have a real job. He'd never be able to spar with his master and he certainly wouldn't be able to run the dojo if he were locked up. Kyou just couldn't live like that.  
  
"You can't tell anyone about this little bet, Kyou." Akito added. "You can't tell Yuki or even Kazuma, if you do, the bet's off."  
  
"I don't care, I'll do it!"  
  
"No, you won't." Akito disagreed. "You'll never beat Yuki. He's the rat and you're only the cat. You're nothing."  
  
America-  
  
Count D-  
  
"Mr. Detective? I didn't expect to see you here." Count D was surprised to find Leon in the private room of the mental institute for the criminally insane, but he was more disturbed by the drawn look on Leon's face when he turned to look at D. "I didn't expect to find you here."  
  
"Same here." Leon immediately came over to D and took a large potted plant out of his arms, grunting under the weight. "Jesus, D!" Leon's face twisted with the effort, but he managed to stagger to the window where he set the plant down on the floor. "How the Hell did you get that thing here?" He cast a not to subtle look at D's slender arms. "It must weigh fifty pounds."  
  
"I keep a healthy diet." D answered, going to stand by the bedside of the patient. "Have the doctor's told you anything?"  
  
Leon was quiet for a moment, but came to stand by D. "No. They don't think he'll ever wake. Something about mental trauma of killing a guy." Leon looked uncharacteristically grim as he spoke and D found himself worrying about his human friend.  
  
That wasn't a good sign and D was glad his grandfather wasn't around to see him like this. Such weakness was unacceptable. He was a Kami, after all, and couldn't afford to favor one animal over the rest. Yet, as time passed, D found himself favoring Leon over all other creatures on Earth. It wasn't safe for D to give his heart to any one creature, his papa had proven that lesson. 'Poor papa...'  
  
"So, what are you doing here?" Leon asked after an oddly long silence. "I didn't think you'd want to see the kid. He did try to kill you."  
  
"He also tried to kill your brother, yet here you are." D pointed out, remembering the fear he felt when little Chris had been held at gun point by a boy barely a few years older than himself. How tragic that Murakai had suffered so much. At least now, D could be sure that the child was resting comfortably and safe.  
  
Only a very few days had passed since the young teenager had attacked Count D's petshop, injured from his work. The child was an assassin, trained since birth to kill without a second though. He was very competent until his last target had been lucky enough to shoot him first. True to the way he'd been trained, Murakai had prostituted himself in order to get close enough to his target before killing him. After being shot, Murakai had taken refuge in D's petshop, threatening both D and little Chris with a gun. Fortunately, Murakai didn't know he was invading the home of a Kami.  
  
D didn't like guns and he didn't like it when someone threatened Chris, another human he'd foolishly allowed himself to become attached to, but he couldn't bring himself to order his darling pets to attack Murakai. Tet-chan alone would have been easily able and willing to kill Murakai. Not only would Tet-chan kill the boy, but he'd eat the remains. Tet-chan wasn't alone in his blood-thirsty desire to protect the petshop and it's owner. All of the pets were very enthusiastic about their privilege of protecting D and most of them were capable of killing, though none of them could quite match Tet-chan's savage delight in killing.   
  
D had no intention of punishing a child for something that wasn't his fault. If anything, Murakai deserved pity and compassion. So D woke Murakai to his own pain and loneliness, let him realize how angry he was at the world that had done this to him, before he put Murakai to sleep.  
  
Yes, it was D who let Murakai slip into the sweet dream he now rested in. Human doctors said he was in a trauma induced coma, but D knew better. It was from D's influence that Murakai now believed he was with his mother again, this time living a happy, peaceful life. Murakai's mother had given up her son long ago when she wasn't able to take care of him. Murakai didn't know that, he didn't even really remember his mother, but that didn't stop him from willingly falling into the lie D had woven for him. A loving mother waiting for him with open arms. For Murakai, who'd been raised with abuse and hate, it had been the happiest moment in his life.  
  
It was D's wish that Murakai should sleep forever in his dream. What waited for him if he did wake? Trials? Prison? Years of life alone? It wasn't Murakai's fault that he was a killer, yet he would be blamed for it. It was better for Murakai that he never wake.  
  
Murakai was part of the organization known as the Black Scorpion, just as Leon suspected. Before Leon had rushed into the petshop to rescue his brother, however, D had removed the tattoo from Murakai's chest. If he were found to be Black Scorpion, Murakai would suffer terribly. Even if he didn't get locked in prison for the rest of his life, Murakai would likely be killed by the same organization that had created him. The Black Scorpion wasn't known for its mercy.  
  
D suddenly realized that Leon had been very quite the whole time and he looked up at his blonde friend. Leon wasn't normally silent and even when he was upset or angry. Leon was far more likely to lash out at whoever was closest to him. "Have you come to visit him, Leon?" Stupid question. D could easily see how Leon was affecting him and, if he had any intelligence at all, he'd break all contact with the detective. Still, since when were emotions controlled by intellect? The simple fact was that D enjoyed Leon's company and he liked talking with him.  
  
"That could have been Chris, ya know." Leon stared morosely at Murakai's still body, attached to humming machines and tubes that kept him fed. "He was probably someone's little brother. I wish I could do something. Someone just picked this kid up somewhere because his parents couldn't look after him. If Chris...damn. I don't know what I'd have done if Chris ended up in Murakai's shoes." Leon stepped closer to the head of the bed and reached down to brush the hair away from Murakai's face, careful not to disturb feeding tube. "I just don't get it, D. He's a kid. He should be worried about grades and girls. This...this isn't right." Leon turned abruptly and strode out of the room with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. "I'll see ya, D. I gotta get back to work."  
  
When D was alone he sat next to Murakai and gazed at the peaceful, sleeping face. "Leon is quite correct. This is not right. Sleep well, child." D left the room, secure in the knowledge that he'd locked the child in a world of pleasant, endless dreams. After all, the child had lived a life of nightmares, it was only right that he have peace and safety in his dreams.  
  
At the police station-  
  
Leon-  
  
"You can't be serious!" Leon yelled at his captain, his legendary temper getting the better of him again. "You can't take me off this case. What about Murakai?"  
  
"There's nothing else we can do, Leon. It's out of our hands." The captain kept his voice deliberately low and stared right at Leon. "Murakai's in the hospital and he'll stay there until his family come to claim him. If he wakes up, maybe he can tell us something, but you heard what the doctor's said."  
  
"There won't be any family to claim him!" Leon exclaimed, throwing his arms up. "He's Black Scorpion! The poor kid was sold or stolen at birth, God only knows where his parents are."  
  
"There's no proof that he's Black Scorpion, he hasn't got the tattoo. The rumors all say the Black Scorpion's have tattoos on their chests. That's all it is, anyway. It's all just rumor. We don't even know if they really exist."  
  
"I've heard all the rumors, thanks." Leon said bitterly, not adding that he'd heard more rumors than any of the other police knew about. Thanks to all the time he spent in China Town, Leon had developed connections there and, apparently, the Black Scorpion was very well known in oriental circles. He'd heard how the Black Scorpion children were used not only for assassinations, but also as entertainment for rich men who didn't care to much about legalities. "I've heard so many rumors it makes me sick!"  
  
"Maybe you need a vacation, Leon." The captain suggested, none to gently. "You haven't taken a day off in three years."  
  
"I don't need a damned vacation, what I need is to solve this Black Scorpion thing!" Leon slammed both fists down on his captain's desk, though he knew it wouldn't do any good. He'd worked with this man to long and his captain knew how to handle Leon's bouts of temper. "Murakai's fourteen, captain, he's nothing but a kid. They did something to him that made him lose his mind. If he hadn't gone into coma, they'd have killed him for fouling up his job. I can't let that..."  
  
"Yes, you can. You have a new case, Leon. You let Murakai get to you and you'll never get anything else done. That poor kid's going to sleep in the hospital, probably for the rest of his life. I know it's hard, but you have to get on with other things, you can't let yourself get emotionally involved with this kid."  
  
It was to late for that, Leon knew. He was already emotionally involved.  
  
"So what's going to be done about him?" Leon asked bitterly. "He's just going to be forgotten?"  
  
"You know he won't. We're doing everything we can, but what do you want to do, Leon? Are you going to start a crusade against an illegal organization that might, possibly exist somewhere in the world? Where are you going to start? What are you going to do if you find them? They'll send kids like Murakai after you; do you think you can shoot them? Can you shoot little kids?" He paused. "I don't think you can. Get out of my office, Leon. You have a job to do and there are other people in this city who need you besides Murakai."  
  
A thousand things sprang to Leon's mind about what he'd like to say to his captain, but he kept his mouth shut for once and marched out of the office, slamming the door closed behind him.  
  
"Cool it, Leon." Jill said softly the moment he came out of the office. No doubt she'd been listening outside the door as she normally did when Leon looked like he'd get himself in trouble. "We're on your side, remember?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah." Leon had to swallow hard and take several deep breaths until he was calmed down enough to think properly. "I can't let this go, Jill. I just can't."  
  
"I know." Jill put a hand on his arm and Leon felt reassured by her gentle touch. "But the chief's right, too. We can't do it without any proof that Black Scorpion even exists. What are you going to do?"  
  
"I don't know. I guess I'm pretty much useless."  
  
"Don't say that, Leon." Jill admonished. "You know it isn't true. Besides, you have a new case. She's sitting at your desk."  
  
She was one of the terrified girls Leon had ever seen and, given his job as a detective, he'd seen plenty of frightened girls. Her hair was somewhere between brown and red and she wore a very traditional oriental outfit, though the first thought that struck Leon was how different it was from the outfits Count D normally wore.  
  
Well, actually, she wasn't really a girl. She was a cross-dresser. Leon knew that the moment he saw the girl...er...boy. Her hands were a little to large and she had an Adam's apple that wasn't quite hidden under the neck of her elaborate clothes. To her credit, Leon noted, she was one of the better cross-dressers he'd seen and it would have been easy to mistake her for a girl if Leon hadn't known what to look for.  
  
"Crap." Leon cursed. "This is all I need!" To top off all the stress of the day, now Leon was going to have to deal with some kid who thought he was a girl. He felt his blood pressure start to rise dramatically and struggled not to explode. He wasn't angry, exactly, just irritated. Why did that guy have to pretend he was something he wasn't? It was like he was lying to the whole world and if there was one thing Leon hated, it was a liar.  
  
"Leon Orcot, you be nice!" Jill warned in her stern, commanding voice. Handing him a file and giving him a warning look, Jill seemed to know the thoughts forming in Leon's mind. "You don't know him, so don't you dare judge him!"  
  
"Don't you trust me?" Leon tried one of his most charming smiles, but it didn't work on Jill. It never did. "I'll be good."  
  
"I know you to well. You tend to say whatever pops into your head without thinking. He's got feelings, Leon. Think of him as her and you'll be better off, take my word for it." Jill gave him a warning glare. "SHE," Jill emphasized that first word. "Introduced herself as a girl, so it's best that we keep it like that. She's a timid little thing and she's got reason to. She was attacked this afternoon by a couple of thugs who apparently took her for a real girl. She reported to the officer who found her that she wasn't molested, but she might be to bashful to admit it. Just do your job and don't upset her."  
  
"The way you talk, you make me sound like I'm some raw recruit." Leon muttered as he opened the file Jill had handed him. The first thing that struck him was the name of the victim. "Souma, huh?"  
  
"I thought you might notice that." Jill commented. "Same name as that friend of yours, right?"  
  
"Ayame, yeah." Leon grinned. "Don't worry about me, I'll keep my big mouth shut. If I can get used to D, then I can get used to anyone." A random thought drifted across Leon's mind. 'Besides, D is a lot prettier than that kid.' The thought took Leon almost completely by surprise and he was stunned for a moment. 'Pretty? Well, I guess he is. No one can deny that, but I don't think I like him like that.' Leon was well aware of how he felt about D, but that didn't mean he had to act on his feelings. He admired D's connection with the world around him and he liked fighting with D. As strange as that sounded, Leon LIKED fighting with D. It gave Leon a good way to let out some of his temper and he knew D could keep up with his end of the fight.  
  
His mind wandered back to the name of the cross-dressing boy sitting next to his desk. Souma. 'I wonder if it's a common name in Japan. Maybe he...er...she's related to Ayame.' Leon found himself strangely excited by the idea and he looked up at the victim who sat very primly at Leon's desk, with her hands folded neatly on her lap. She was pretty good looking for a guy and, Leon remembered from a picture of Ayame he had, Ayame was a bit of a dandy, himself. They could be related.  
  
"Why do I get this case, anyway?" Leon asked Jill, though not with any real rancor.   
  
"Because the chief wanted to get your mind off Murakai." Jill answered. "You're to wrapped up in his case. Besides, the kid's Japanese and you know the language. Besides, the suspects are reportedly oriental. Maybe D can find something out for you."  
  
"I don't need D to do my work for me!" Leon snapped.  
  
"No, but I thought you might like an excuse to visit him that doesn't involve trying to arrest him. Honestly, D's going to think you have a bondage fetish if you keep trying to get those handcuffs on him."  
  
"You've got a filthy mind, Jill." Leon told her flatly as he tried to ignore her giggles. "I've still got Murakai's case to finish up on, the paper work's going to bury me." It really wasn't the paper work that bothered Leon, though. The thought of Murakai laying silent and helpless in that hospital bed hurt Leon.  
  
It also hurt Leon to know that somewhere out there were kids still being treated like that and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it. No one knew where the Black Scorpions were trained, how they were chosen, who ran the whole thing, or if they really even existed. That was another hard part of the whole deal. Not a single Black Scorpion had ever been captured alive. Apparently, they were also trained to commit suicide if they were in danger of being caught. Leon remembered one rumor that in Chili the police had found the body of an eight year old boy with a black scorpion tattooed on his chest. That hurt. Chris was only nine. It might have been Chris.  
  
Leon shook his head and brought his mind back to the present. There was nothing he could do for Murakai and probably nothing he could ever do to stop the Black Scorpion. He was pretty much useless to everyone. Even his own little brother was being raised by D because Leon didn't earn enough money to take care of him. 'I'm stupid and useless, what made me think I could help Murakai?' But, he had a job to do and made his way away from Jill and towards the boy...girl was looking at something intently on his desk.  
  
"Miss Souma?" Leon said, giving the best smile he could manage with his thoughts lingering on Murakai. "I'm detective Leon Orcot, I've been assigned to your case. I just need some information from you." It had been a very long day and Leon just wanted to go home and see D and Chris. He seemed to be getting tired very easily, lately. It would be nice to get back and have a cup of tea with D.  
  
The expression on her face was one of startled fear and she immediately jumped to her feet when she heard her name. "Hai! Souma Ritsu desu." Then she looked horrified and blushed dark red. "Sorry! Sorry! I forgot where I was, forgive me for speaking Japanese, please! I didn't mean to be rude!" Her voice, while slightly panicked, was thick with her Japanese accent. "I'm sorry I was looking at your papers, I was just curious, I promise I'll forget it right away!"  
  
"Don't worry." Leon smiled as he sat down and he motioned for her to sit, too. "I was told you'd been attacked, miss?" He looked down at the papers Jill had given him while he gave her a quick once over. There was a large bruise that covered the left side of her face from chin to her hairline and her wrist had been sprained. She did, indeed, wear a bandage around her right wrist and held it close to her chest.  
  
She nodded slowly, the flustered blush never leaving her face. "Sorry to take up your time, officer. I...I know I shouldn't have bothered, there's probably nothing you can do about it anyway." As soon as she'd said that, she got embarrassed again. "Not that I think you CAN'T do anything! I'm sure you're a wonderful policeman, but they ran away so quickly when that other policeman came..."  
  
"Ah," Leon felt his pride pricked. "Don't get so upset. You can't just let something like this go and not say anything. They're going to hurt some other girl if you don't help us catch them. Let's start at the beginning. Can I have your full name and age?"  
  
"Souma Ritsu. I'm twenty years old."  
  
Leon wrote down what she told him on a form. He felt his weariness start to lift. She seemed like a nice, polite girl and Leon wasn't feeling nearly so bad about having an hour left before he could go home. Sure, she was nervous and worried, but most women were after being attacked. He really didn't understand why a guy was dressing like a girl, but it wasn't his life so it really wasn't his business. Leon would do as Jill told him and try to keep his big mouth shut. "Where do you live?"   
  
"Well...I'm staying at the Gillian Hotel, but my home is in Japan. I'm only visiting America."  
  
"I see. Are you here alone or with friends or family?"  
  
"Oh, I'm alone. My family doesn't travel much." Her eyes slid away from Leon and she looked disturbed. "We...um...we like to stay close to the family estate." Then she brightened quickly. "I'm afraid I'm the only one who likes traveling. I guess I'm a bit odd, even in my family."  
  
"It's not safe for a young woman to go out walking alone in parts of this city, ya know." Leon irritably scribbled on the form about her place of residence as he thought about this innocent girl getting attacked just because she wanted to go out for a walk. "Tell me, how many attackers were there?"  
  
"Three men. They were about the same age, maybe thirty and...and I remember one of them was wearing a hat. Does that help?" She looked at Leon with such hope that he hated to dash her hopes. "I'm afraid I didn't get a good look at them, I was afraid..."  
  
"Anyone would be afraid, miss Souma. Especially when three men jump you. You're damned lucky you only got a sprained wrist and a bruise." Leon swallowed hard. He hated this next part of the interview. "There a few more questions. You did go to the hospital, right?"  
  
"Well, no. The officer who found me bandaged my wrist. I really don't need to see any doctors." Ritsu seemed more than a little nervous about this subject.  
  
"Ummm...then I have to ask, did the attackers rape you?" Leon squirmed when he asked that. He almost never got these kind of cases and the sight of Ritsu paling reminded Leon of why.  
  
Ritsu looked down at her lap again. "You don't have to worry about me, officer. I'm all right."  
  
"That's not the answer I need, miss Souma." Leon persisted as gently as he could. "I need to know what we're going to charge these guys with once we catch them. Were you raped or was it just a physical assault? Did they rob you?"  
  
Ritsu's hands tightened into tight fists and Leon saw her bite her lip and felt sudden pity for her. He couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like to go through something like that. "They took my purse." Ritsu admitted. "But there wasn't much in it. I lost my credit card and passport, but my family can cancel the credit card and arrange for me to get another passport. I...they hit me a lot and called me names." Her head hung even lower with shame. "I deserved it. Stupid to go out. I should have thought better. I've never been very smart and..."  
  
"Smart or stupid," Leon told her, "You didn't deserve anything that happened to you, miss Souma. Please, this will be kept confidential. Were you raped?"  
  
Ritsu looked up at him with teary eyes. "No." She swallowed hard. "They...tried. When they found out I...wasn't what they thought I was, well, they got very angry." Her hands began to fiddle, twisting and turning as she struggled to stay still and calm. "I think...they didn't like what they found..."  
  
Leon felt sick to his stomach as he envisioned what had happened to Ritsu just a few hours ago. He'd heard enough hate in his life to know what those men must have said and knew that the bruise on Ritsu's face and the sprained wrist probably weren't the only damage done. "Look, I really think you should go to the hospital, Miss Souma."  
  
"NO!" Ritsu nearly shouted, then blushed when she realized how loud she'd been. "No, I'm okay. It's against family tradition to go to hospitals and doctors. It's just not done."  
  
Leon frowned. "Not done? Why the Hell not? What kind of stupid family thing is that? Your hurt, of course you have to go to the hospital!"  
  
"I really can't. You have to understand. The head of my family would be very angry if he heard I'd gone to a hospital without permission."  
  
"Well, whatever." Leon growled. "That's a stupid reason. Why can't you go to see a freakin' doctor?"  
  
Ritsu didn't answer. "Umm, may I ask a question?"  
  
"Yes?" Leon encouraged, still irritated about the whole no hospital thing.  
  
"This picture?" She pointed to one of the photo's Leon still had about Murakai's case. It was a photo taken by the Chilean police, a picture of the dead boy with the Black Scorpion tattoo on his chest. "What is this?"  
  
Leon knew she was just trying to change the subject. If Ritsu could read English as well as she spoke it, there wasn't much reason to lie. She'd probably read enough to understand what the photo was in general. "It's just evidence in a case I'm working on." He told her. "The tattoo is a connection to some kind of gang of assassins."  
  
Ritsu gasped, horrified, and put her bandaged hand over her mouth. "That can't be right!" She exclaimed. "You must have made a mistake."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"You must be mistaken." Ritsu said earnestly. She tapped the photo of the Black Scorpion with a well-manicured fingernail. "That's not some assassin's mark. My cousin has the same tattoo."  
  
Leon went cold at her words and he froze for just a moment. Cousin? She couldn't mean Ayame, right? Ayame who seemed so gentle and carefree in his letters? Ayame couldn't possibly be an assassin. "Your cousin?"  
  
"Yes. He's had it since he was very young." She leaned forward and whispered as if she were telling a great secret. "He didn't have a very happy childhood and we only found him by chance. Seems he'd gotten involved with some...less than legal people. It wasn't his fault, you understand." She hurriedly added. "He was just a child and couldn't stop what was happening to him. He's really a very good person. He might not be the best person in the world, but he'd never kill anyone!"  
  
"I don't suppose you could tell me your cousin's name?" Leon tried to keep his voice level, but it seemed that Ritsu could see his discomfort.  
  
"Why?" If anything, she sat straighter and stiffer in her chair, her eyes darting around nervously. Leon knew she'd never be a decent liar, but then again, Leon wasn't terribly good at it, either. "I told you, my cousin's done nothing wrong."  
  
"Oh," Leon let out the biggest laugh he had and hoped it sounded more genuine than it felt. "I'm not accusing your cousin of anything. Actually, I was more curious about your name."  
  
"My name? Ritsu?"  
  
"No, Souma. I have a penpal named Souma and I was wondering if you were a relation." At least that much was true and Leon didn't have to worry his conscious about lying again. "It's just idle curiosity."  
  
"Oh." Ritsu's guarded attitude vanished at once and Leon almost felt badly about the deception. Still, anything that helped to stop the Black Scorpion... "Well, his name's Kureno, but I really don't think he's your penpal. I've only met him once and he really didn't seem the type to have a penpal, to be honest."  
  
Leon said nothing. 'Kureno. I don't think Ayame ever mentioned a Kureno in his letters. What if Ayame's a fake name? It's...possible.' Even to Leon, the argument sounded weak. 'If he is part of the Black Scorpion, why would he have a penpal of all things? The people training him wouldn't allow it. He'd have to make up a whole life just to tell me and he's never told me anything that has ever contradicted himself. If is has been lying to me all these years, he's done a real good job of it.' Leon scowled down at the photograph of the boy's chest with the black scoprion. 'He MIGHT be lying.'  
  
"Have I said something wrong?" Ritsu's timid voice spoke up, bringing Leon out of his musings. "I'm...I'm terribly sorry. I knew I shouldn't have come here. I was just wasting your time and now I've made you angry with my babbling." Tears sprang to her eyes and she suddenly jumped out of her chair with more energy than Leon would have thought she had. Her eyes were insanely wide and wild and she screamed at the top of her lungs, "I'M SO SORRY!!! I NEVER SHOULD HAVE OPENED MY BIG MOUTH!"  
  
"SHUT UP!" Leon barked sharply, his angry eyes flashing at Ritsu. "Just shut up! Damn, you talk to much! Do you have to be so loud?!" He hated self-pity more than he hated liars. "What the Hell are you talking about? You never should have come here? What are you going to do? Run away and let these bastards attack someone else? Are you that much of a coward?"  
  
Ritsu trembled at Leon's words and bit her bottom lip.  
  
"Don't even think about it!" Leon slammed both hands down on his desk and half stood, towering over Ritsu. "You start crying and you'll never get anywhere! You want to spend the rest of your life sobbing?"  
  
A strong hand landed on Leon's shoulder and he turned to find Jill smiling sweetly at Ritsu. "Forgive him. Leon's had a bit of a hard week, he's not really the pigheaded, arrogant, ass hole he sounds like." She turned that sweet smile towards Leon, but it turned vicious and shark-like when it hit him. "He's got to learn to calm down. Leon...sit."  
  
Reluctantly, Leon did as Jill told him to do. "You wanna take over my case, Jill?"  
  
"No, but I think I may just sit with you for a moment." True to her word, Jill walked around to her side of the desk and sat down, keeping her hard eyes on Leon.  
  
Ritsu, seemly taken aback by Leon's verbal assault, took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with her hands. "I...I really am sorry. I have a hard time controlling myself sometimes. I really am worthless and you shouldn't waste your voice yelling at me." Her whole attitude shouted that, this time, she was telling the truth. She really did think she was completely worthless. "Please, don't get upset over me. I was just worried," Her sand colored eyes looked at Leon with real concern that he didn't understand. She didn't know him, she couldn't possibly be worried about him. "You looked...angry, just now. When I mentioned Kureno you looked so angry. Are you?"  
  
"Naw." Leon tried to brush it off, angry that Ritsu had read him so easily. He had more to think about than Ritsu's unexpected panic attack. "Not really. I was just thinking about my penpal. About how much I'd like to see him. I've never actually met him before. He might not even be in the same family as you, I was just curious. I'm looking for Souma Ayame."  
  
Ritsu's eyes lit up like spotlights and a brilliant smile split her face so wide that she winced when a cut in the corner of her lip started bleeding. "Oh, Ayame! Yes, yes, Ayame's one of my cousins! He's a very good man and if you're his friend, I think you must be good, too. He wouldn't like a terrible person." There was something in Ritsu's eyes that almost frightened Leon. It was the same adoration he saw in Chris' eyes when Chris looked at him. Such an innocence that it made Ritsu look all the more vulnerable and Leon knew, all of a sudden, that he couldn't let Ritsu walk back to her hotel alone. She's get attacked or mugged again.  
  
On the bright side, at least Leon could be pretty sure that Ayame wasn't part of the Black Scorpion.  
  
"I think I'll ask for some vacation time. Can you do me a favor, Miss Souma? Give Ayame a call and ask him if it's all right that I come for a visit? He invited me a while ago, but I wasn't able to go. I think I can now." Leon sighed. "When all this is done, I'll walk you back to your hotel, Miss Souma."  
  
"Good idea." Jill stood and gave Leon a nod of her head. "Before we go anywhere, can I have a word with you, Leon?"  
  
"We? Are we going somewhere?" Leon asked, suspiciously, even as he stood to follow Jill. She didn't answer and led him to the water cooler, just out of Ritsu's sight. "What's going on, Ji...urk!" It took Leon completely by surprise when Jill grabbed him by the ear and squeezed just hard enough to get his attention.  
  
"You listen to me, Leon Orcot!" Jill hissed. She kept her voice low enough that no one passing could hear them. "Don't you dare think you're so clever! I know what you're up to and I won't let you do it!" She let go of him, but didn't give him enough room to get away from her.  
  
"What are you doing, Jill!?" Leon demanded, keeping his voice as quiet as hers, though it took quite the effort.  
  
"Who do you think you're fooling with all that vacation shit? Did you think I'd believe that? You're going to Japan because you think Ritsu's related to a Black Scorpion agent!"  
  
"You were listening!" Leon accused, though he knew he shouldn't have been shocked. It wouldn't be the first time Jill had been nosy enough to eavesdrop. "You spied on that whole conversation."  
  
"Very observant, detective." Jill said acidly. "Naturally, I was listening. I heard everything, including that little comment about Black Scorpion."  
  
"Keep your mouth shut!" Leon ordered, though he really didn't think she'd listen to him. "If the chief hears you..."  
  
"You might live a while longer and we all know you'd hate that, huh? Do you honestly think I'd let you go to Japan just to get killed?" She smacked him upside the head. "How stupid are you?"  
  
"Jill..."  
  
"Don't interrupt me!"  
  
Leon shut his mouth, but only because he'd never seen Jill so angry before. Normally, she was content to just pull his ear or punch his arm if she was upset at him, but she never flew into such a temper like this. She must be really worried.  
  
Jill glared at Leon before speaking again. "You're really going to do it, aren't you? You're just going to pick up and fly off to Japan looking for the Black Scorpion. Where are you going to get the money? You told me two weeks ago that the electricity to your apartment had been turned off because you couldn't pay the bills. How are you going to buy a plane ticket?"  
  
"I don't have to. Ayame sent me plane tickets that I never used. If I write to him again and ask, he'll send me new ones. I could leave tomorrow if I can get Ritsu to get a hold of Ayame."  
  
"What are you going to tell your brother? What about the Count? Don't you think they'll be just a little hurt when you 'go on vacation' without them?"  
  
Leon met her eyes easily. "They'll deal with it. I'm going after Black Scorpion and I'm not taking them somewhere so dangerous. D's always getting himself into trouble, he doesn't need to follow me into it and God knows I'm not dragging Chris somewhere that he might get killed!"  
  
For a long moment they just stared at each other, neither one willing to give an inch. Finally, Jill let out a tired sounded sigh. "You're the most stubborn person I've ever met, Leon. I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Shit." Jill cursed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well...that's it, then. I'll be ready as soon as you are. We'll meet at the Count's petshop. I want to say bye to the Count, too. Maybe he'll water my plants while we're gone."  
  
Leon gaped at her. "You are NOT coming with me!"  
  
"Well, I'm not letting you go by yourself, you'll only get killed and then what'll I tell the Count?!" Jill threw up her arms, defeated. "We'll go hunting Black Scorpion together, Leon. If nothing else, the Count would kill me if I let anything happen to you."  
  
"Jill, this seriously isn't a good idea." But even as he spoke, Leon couldn't bring himself to sound as determined to make her stay in America as he should have. "I swear I'm going to do everything I can to find these Black Scorpion people."  
  
"Yes, I know you are and I know why you aren't going to telling the chief that you have new evidence about Black Scorpion. You know that he wouldn't let you go after them and he might not even believe that it's real evidence. That Ritsu kid says his cousin isn't Black Scorpion, so it's not real hard evidence, now is it? Jesus, Leon. You just have to make life difficult, don't you?"  
  
"I'm not forcing you to come."  
  
"Pfft! Like you can take care of yourself! Don't make me laugh. Without me or the Count, you'd be lost. You go take Ritsu back to her apartment and I'll tell the chief that we're both going on vacation. You must have about a month of vacation time saved up, by now. Go on, I'll call you tonight. Try to sneak off to Japan without me and I'll rip your intestines out through your bellybutton."  
  
When she walked away, Leon couldn't help but smile after her. He would never be able to say that he thought it was a good idea for Jill to go with him, but it was good to have her. She was the person he trusted most in the world, aside from D, and he knew she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself in a dangerous situation. She was twice as smart as he was and tough as nails. If he was going to have anyone at his back, Leon wanted it to be Jill. At least he wouldn't have to worry about her. If D came along or Chris, Leon knew he'd worry every ten seconds whether they were all right or not.  
  
By the time Leon returned to his desk, Ritsu was looking at the photo of the Black Scorpion tattoo again. Ayame was Ritsu's cousin. Ritsu had another cousin that was possibly Black Scorpion. If he went to visit Ayame, he would have a fairly good chance of meeting Kureno with the tattoo.  
  
  
  
Even if Ayame wasn't apart of the Black Scorpion, if Kureno was then Ayame might be closely involved with a killer. Leon just couldn't allow that.  
  
He went back to his desk and held Ritsu's coat for her. "Come on. I'll walk you home, I think I've got all the information I need for now." As they walked out, Leon added, "I have to make a quick stop on the way, though." He wondered how D would react to Ritsu when he brought her to the petshop.  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: The Black Scorpion was from Petshop Of Horrors manga volume 7, DUTY. The whole premise of that story was that a young boy had been trained to be an assassin by some shadowy organization that tattooed all of their assassins with a large black scorpion on their chests. I guess they weren't very bright, huh? Who in their right minds would deliberately mark their assassins? Anyway, one of these assassins was a child who stumbled into Count D's petshop. Count D took pity on the boy and took the tattoo of the scorpion off his chest. Don't ask me how, D has his secrets. If you like, just imagine Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing, that's basically what the assassin boy was like, emotionally speaking. I don't know the boy's name, so I named him Murakai. Why? Because I liked it.  
  
Cousin D: Dear readers, sorry about the long wait. My disk decided to die, taking with it all of the future chapters which means I have to rewrite everything. Honestly didn't mean to take so long getting this chapter out, but it got a bit long, as they tend to do.  
  
Evil Little god of Writing: Enough, enough. No one wants to hear your sniveling whining! Damn it! How long have you been writing? You KNOW to save extra copies of everything!  
  
Cousin D: Yes, I know. I get busy, though. There's so much to do.  
  
Evil Little god of Writing: NO EXCUSES! To punish you, I get to play with a character. (Giggles insanely) I want Shigure.  
  
Cousin D: You can't have Shigure. He's my baby, the best of all the Fruits Basket characters. I won't let you hurt him.  
  
Evil Little god of Writing: Awww, come on. You know it's more fun to torture the characters you like best. Come on. Compared to the rest of his family, he's had a pretty easy life. Just let me...  
  
Cousin D: No! You can't have him. I'll give you someone else to play with, but not Shigure. You can have Rin or Hiro. I might even give you Kisa or Momiji.  
  
Evil Little god of Writing: Hrumph. You're no fun. Everyone else in the family's already been...ohhh...  
  
Cousin D: I don't like the sound of that.  
  
Evil Little god of Writing: Hee, hee. I just got a lovely idea. If I can't have Shigure, yet, I know whom I want.  
  
Cousin D: This does not bode well, readers. Wait a minute, what do you mean, yet? Shigure got tortured enough in the first chapter!  
  
Evil Little god of Writing: Don't be silly. You know there's no such thing as to much torture. In the end, Shigure will be mine. 


	13. Unwilling Confession

Long Denied  
  
Chapter 13: Unwilling Confession  
  
Count D-  
  
"Tet-chan, is the cake ready?" He looked towards the kitchen, a room just off the parlor but separated by one of the large screens that gave the parlor privacy.  
  
"Nearly, master." Tet-chan, who looked, to D, like a teenage boy no more than sixteen, stuck his head out of the kitchen's doorway. "I've made sponge cake with strawberries and whipped cream for topping." He looked back over his shoulder into the kitchen, no doubt looking at his creation. "Not to bad, even if I do say so myself." Tet-chan had hair the color of rust and a wicked smile. He was really quite a charming child, even though he did tend to eat humans. Tet-chan wasn't evil, it was simply the nature of the Tou-Tetsu to eat humans.   
  
The Tou-Tetsu was one of the many rare species of animal that D had been lucky enough to run across. Capturing Tet-chan had nearly cost D a limb or two, Tet-chan had been eager to taste D's flesh to sample what he thought would be the sweetest meat. D had no idea how he would taste when eaten, though he suspected that it would be deadly, even to one such as Tet-chan.  
  
"Where is Chris?" D asked.  
  
"He's with Philip." Tet-chan answered. "Wanted to play with someone his own age, I guess. Silly kid didn't think cooking was fun." He wasn't joking, either. Tet-chan honestly thought cooking was the highest of art forms and could spend endless hours in the kitchen just experimenting with new receipts and Chris' lack of enthusiasm was a source of great irritation to Tet-chan. "Philip said he'd take him swimming and to look for seashells."  
  
"Good." Philip was the young dolphin Chris had befriended the first day he'd been at the petshop. Though Chris thought Philip was just a boy who lived at the petshop and never left the room that was filled with an entire ocean. It was an entirely self-contained ocean and there was no creature in that ocean that D had not put there. There were dangerous creatures in that ocean, but Philip was more than capable of protecting Chris from any of the other creatures who might like to eat him. Most of the ocean creatures were harmless enough, but there was a kraken that lived in the great depths and more than a few sharks. The mermaids alone were quite fatal when they were hungry. Still, Philip was stronger than he appeared and D was confident that no harm would come to his young charge. In fact, of all the animals in D's care, Chris was the only human.   
  
Tet-chan vanished into the kitchen again, probably trying to put finishing touches on his cake, and D let him go. After all, who better to do the cooking than Tet-chan who was a gourmet chef?  
  
D was setting out the teacups for himself and Leon when the telephone rang and he looked up in annoyance, a barely visible frown marring his exquisite lips. Still, business was business and he had a duty to perform. So D set down the teapot he'd been holding and went to the antique telephone he kept on a small table between the parlor and the front room of the petshop. It was probably just another customer who hadn't obeyed the contract.  
  
D picked up the telephone, his long fingers curling around the receiver. "Hello, we sell anything you may desire. How may I help you?"  
  
"Greetings, my son."  
  
D felt his blood go cold at the voice. His hand tightened around the receive so much that his sharp fingernails dug deeply into the palm of his hand. Blood seeped from the self-inflicted, though unintended, wounds, but D hardly noticed the mild pain. He looked around to be sure none of his beloved pets were around. The last thing he wanted was for them to see him in such a state as this conversation would no doubt get him in. Thankfully, the only pet around was Q-chan, D's darling horned, winged, rabbit. Q-chan, for once, wasn't fluttering around the room curiously, but he sat on the high back of D's chair, staring at D with his small black eyes shining intently at D.  
  
"Papa," D turned his attention back to the person on the other end of the phone. "I...did not expect to hear from you."  
  
"Good," D could almost hear the pleased smile on his papa's face and how strange it seemed to hear his own voice on speaking to him. "I am always happy to give you a pleasant surprise. I certainly hope I did not interrupt anything important. I know how involved you have become with certain pets. One, in particular, concerns me. You have gone so far as to allow this pet to run wild."  
  
D felt a cold shiver run down his spine and he closed his eyes momentarily, trying to control his emotions. It had been so long since he had heard from his papa, but D could have waited another century or two before hearing that voice again. "I care for all my pets, papa. They are all dear to me."  
  
"No. This one pet is...closer to you than your others. You allow it to manhandle you and to show such disrespect as to raise its voice to you. You show it far to much leniency, for my taste. You have even killed for it. You have deliberately ended a life and taken away its potential for breeding to increase the species. How odd that my own child would favor one creature above all others on this planet. Sad. How very sad. I thought you would have learned from my own pain." There was pain in papa D's voice, but it was well disguised. "You will just end up losing it and then...oh, the pain. It is not worthy of you, my son. A human. Weak...short sighted humans...they are not worthy of our pain."  
  
"Papa, I...I do not favor any creature above the others. I have learned what you taught me, very well. I will make no mistakes." D hesitated to mention the name of the human who had caused his papa so much pain. That human was still alive, as far as D knew, and D had even seen him once. It was a human who had brought D's papa so far into madness. He hadn't been allowed a close look at the man, Sofu had been thoroughly against the relationship and he'd used that moment to take little D away from his papa. That hadn't been a pleasant moment in D's life. "I promise you, I will not let any human hurt me."  
  
Tet-chan crept out of the kitchen, the white apron gone and a concerned look on his face. He was once again adorned with his ornate jewelry, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings that he normally took off when he did his cooking. Tet-chan was such a vain creature and couldn't bear to ruin any of his beautiful jewelry in the kitchen.  
  
D scolded himself for forgetting Tet-chan's excellent hearing. No doubt the young Tou-Tetsu had overheard D's end of the conversation and was worried. Tet-chan walked up to D and tugged on his robe. He tugged twice before he opened his mouth to speak, but D put a finger to his lips, signaling Tet-chan to remain silent. It was bad enough that D's papa had heard that Tet-chan now lived with D, it would be terrible if papa D decided that he wanted Tet-chan. Besides the fact that papa D didn't always treat his pets well, D wasn't about to give up one of the treasures of his collection. It was easier to get a dragon or a mermaid than to get a Tou-Tetsu. D would battle his papa for Tet-chan, if he was forced to, but it was something he really would rather not do.   
  
"What have you named him? This...human of yours. Leon, I think."  
  
'How did he know Leon's name?!' D swallowed hard, but knew none of his pets had betrayed him. Not one of them would go behind his back and tell secrets to D's papa. For one thing, D would know if any of his pets lied to him. For another, most of them knew how dangerous papa D was. D knew his papa must be watching him, somehow and was probably nearby. "I do know a human named Leon. He often helps me deal with other humans. He amuses me, papa, nothing else." It would be useless to lie, but perhaps hiding the truth would be more profitable.  
  
"I see." Was papa D's cool reply. "Well, your human is approaching at this moment. May I suggest that you pay close attention to his companion? You will find him most interesting." A soft laugh. "Yes, very interesting." Then a click and silence when papa D hung up.  
  
"D? Hey, D!"  
  
D turned when a rough shaking got his attention and he found Leon frowning down at him with that charmingly confused expression Leon so often wore. "Ah, kaiji-san (Mr. Detective). How nice that you stopped by." He started to smile, relieved to find Leon safe, but the smile vanished when he saw the...person standing just behind Leon. D dropped the telephone.  
  
"D?" Leon gave him a push towards the sofa. "What the Hell's wrong with you? Go sit down, you're even paler than normal and I thought that was impossible."  
  
The person standing behind Leon was nothing that D had ever seen before. Strange...it was at least partly human, but not entirely. It also had the blood of a monkey. 'Not possible!' D suddenly felt very overwhelmed. No wonder his papa had suddenly taken an interest in him again. 'It is...unique! Nothing else like this creature has ever existed. I have never even heard of it...' And D's thoughts faded as a memory came back to him.  
  
That paper D had found, written by his papa and telling of the amazing Zodiac animals he'd discovered. Something powerful, amazing, and beautiful. A cat had been mentioned, but little else. Staring at the new, fascinating creature, D couldn't help but connect the two. There was no proof, but he knew this creature was one of the Junikyu his papa had written about. His papa had also written that he wanted these Junikyu animals more than he wanted even a Tou-Tetsu.  
  
'We are all in danger.' D thought, still staring at the seemingly auburn haired boy. 'He has brought danger to my petshop, by his presence. My darling pets, if papa comes here...'  
  
Leon was speaking again and looking more annoyed than ever. "D! Are you even listening?" Both hands were on his hips and he leaned over slightly. "Geeze, you're so lost today!"  
  
"Yes. Yes, of course, I am listening. I do apologize." He tried to smile to reassure Leon, but Leon still scowled suspiciously.  
  
"Who was on the phone?" He picked up the receiver from where D had dropped it and listened, as if he expected someone to still be on the other end. Leon hung it up with a disgusted look. "I didn't think you could look any paler than you usually do, but you're white as anything. You get bad news? Someone die?"  
  
"Not nearly that bad, I assure you." D felt as if he were finally starting to get control of himself, but he couldn't help staring at the newcomer, who was starting to look uncomfortable under D's gaze. "Please, introduce your friend, Leon. I am most curious. Normally you do not bring guests to our tea."  
  
"Huh?" Leon looked back at the auburn haired boy and seemed to have forgotten that he'd brought anyone with him. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. D, this is Souma Ritsu, I'm walking her back to her apartment. Miss Souma, this is Count D. His family owns the petshop. I just wanted to tell you that I can't stop for tea. Ritsu got hurt today and I didn't want her to have to walk alone. Look, I've gotta go, tell Chris I'll be back tonight, okay?"   
  
"So thoughtful of you, Leon." Though D couldn't help but feel a little irritated that Leon was passing up on tea to walk with this...whatever he was...home. Not only that but Leon seemed to have failed to notice that this person was male. If Leon thought this person was female, he would be more likely to try and court her; Leon was notoriously simpleminded when it came to mating. He was ruled by his hormones and anything that walked by with breasts and swaying hips, Leon seemed to jump at. "You are always so kind." He was rewarded by seeing Leon flush with embarrassment and that did please D.  
  
"Awwww...knock it off, D. Look, I don't want to leave you if you aren't feeling good. Are you sure you're all right? What happened?" His scowled deepened and D followed Leon's gaze down to his own still bleeding hand where D had pierced his palm with his long nails. "What the Hell did you do?" Leon reached out to take D's hand, but D jerked away and held his hand close to his chest, lest Leon get any of D's blood on him. That would be a very, very bad thing.  
  
"Nothing, it is nothing. The phone call...surprised me, that is all. It was from family I had not heard from in years."  
  
"Must have been one Hell of a surprise." Leon's scowl didn't fade.   
  
"You have no idea." D muttered before he decided to get himself out of Leon's disturbingly intense eyes and stood up. "Since you are so reluctant," D couldn't help the bit of venom he put into that word, "to leave your young companion alone, why do you not invite him to stay for tea with us? Chris has been waiting for you all day and I hate to miss your company." Though Leon didn't comment of D's use of 'him' and acted as if he hadn't heard a thing, D knew that Leon had heard. Leon was far to clever to miss such a thing.  
  
"Oh, no!" Leon's guest protested, raising his hands in front of him as if to ward off D's invitation. "No, I couldn't possibly impose!"  
  
D stared at the sincere refusal, shock overpowering him momentarily. Not a single person in D's entire long life had ever refused tea with him. Even D knew that he had a well-known reputation and it burned his pride a bit that this person wasn't honored to have tea with him. "You...do not enjoy my hospitality?" D raised an eyebrow, and he felt his smile slip somewhat. This person hadn't been here two minutes and he was already insulting D's generosity? Unthinkable! "Perhaps my humble tea is not as opulent as to what you are no doubt accustomed, but it is all I have to offer." There were kings and presidents and empresses who would give their entire fortunes for the privilege of taking tea with D, so how dare this person refuse?!  
  
Q-chan cried out a shrill kreel of "Kyu!" and flew swiftly around D's head once before landing on his shoulder and giving D a distinct look of disapproval as he fluttered his tiny bat-like wings.  
  
'Yes, quite right.' D conceded silently as he gave Q-chan an affectionate pat. 'I shouldn't let my pride get the better of me like this.'  
  
Leon, oblivious to D's thoughts, winced at what D had said and muttered, "Here we go again." And in an instant D understood why Leon sounded so pained.  
  
Ritsu leapt t his feet and, at the top of his lungs, cried out, "NO, NO, NO! It's not that at all, I swear it! You're to kind to invite someone so unworthy as myself, I've no right to drink your tea or sit on you sofa." Tears began to flow down Ritsu's face and he reached up and seized his own hair with his hands and started to pull at it with savage, painful looking tugs. "Please, I'm not trying to insult you, someone like you can't be insulted by someone like me, it's just not right! I..."  
  
With his fists tightly balled and his body tensed, Leon turned on Ritsu and yelled, "Sit! Now!"  
  
Ritsu quickly did as Leon ordered, not even bothering to go to the sofa, but sitting on the floor with his hands at his mouth, as if he were afraid Leon would yell at him again. Still, the quiet was nice and Tet-chan muttered something vile under his breath, though no one but D could understand what he said.  
  
"Tet-chan, hush. I will fetch the rest of tea, shall I? Chris will be along in a moment, he's playing with a friend." Before Leon could say anything else, D hurried into the kitchen, followed closely by Tet-chan.  
  
When the door had closed behind them, Tet-chan moved up close to D. "Master," Tet-chan respectfully didn't touch D, he'd learned, painfully, that it wasn't respectful to touch a Kami without express permission. "Who was that person? I don't recognize what he was.."  
  
"Neither do I." D confessed. "But I wish very much to find out. I will do everything in my power to find out what that person is. Tet-chan, run along and fetch Chris, won't you?" He went to one of the many cabinets and pulled out a roll of gauze and started to carefully wrap his hand. "Warn the others to be careful, I cut myself." All the pets were warned when they made the petshop their home that it was unwise to touch D's blood. The blood of a Kami could kill just as easily as it could heal.  
  
"Yes, master." Tet-chan started off towards the back rooms, but paused a moment. "Master?"  
  
"Yes?" D didn't bother to look up from his hand.  
  
"Who were you speaking to on the telephone? I don't remember ever seeing you so upset." That was polite. Tet-chan had probably seen how frightened D had been, but he hadn't mentioned it. "Was it someone I should eat for you? I will kill this person for you if they make you unhappy."  
  
"No." D shuddered at the idea of Tet-chan meeting papa D. "No, it's just something I need to take care of."  
  
"I heard you mention that stupid human on the phone."   
  
"As I said, it is not something you should worry about. Please, fetch Chris. I'm sure Leon would like to see him before he must leave with his guest." It was a clear dismissal, but Tet-chan didn't move, strangely. Normally, Tet-chan was the first one to obey D and he often obeyed without question or hesitation.  
  
This time, though, Tet-chan scowl darkly and he crossed his arms over his chest. His jewelry jangled with his every movement. He sounded half irritated and half worried. "You aren't letting that stupid human get away with it, are you?" He glanced through a small window in the kitchen's door at where Leon sat with Ritsu. "It's just not right."  
  
"Get away with what?" D asked, for he knew which stupid human Tet-chan was talking about.  
  
"He's flaunting that creature before you and pretending it's nothin!" Tet-chan sounded outraged, snarling as he spoke and showing off his sharp fangs. "Master, whatever that creature is, it is very beautiful and it would not be difficult for that stupid human to become enamored by an attractive face. Are you going to let your human escape your grasp?"  
  
D smiled and nearly laughed at the unexpected question. 'And I'm arrogant enough to think I know everything about my dear pets! Tet-chan is not the most sly of creatures, yet even he manages to surprise me. Who would have thought that Tet-chan would be worried that Leon would leave us or jealous on my behalf?' Instead of voicing his amusement, D gave Tet-chan a half-lidded look and a mischievous smile. "Why, Tet-chan, if I didn't know better, I would think you were concerned for our kaiji-san. Are you frightened that he will leave us?"  
  
Tet-chan blustered, to cover his own pride, and retorted with a hot, "Of course not! You know I want nothing more than to eat that stupid human! He makes a mess when he's here and he disrupts everything. But..." Tet-chan's face colored slightly and he lowered his eyes. "I just don't want him to hurt you." Tet-chan covered his heartfelt words by saying, in a louder tone, "Besides, that stupid human would make Chris cry if he went off with some stranger and I won't let Chris cry!"  
  
D was taken aback, for the second time, by Tet-chan's sincere words. He knew Tet-chan was sincere because no creature could lie to D successfully. It just wasn't possible. Tet-chan knew this, but it wasn't that which had always made him tell the absolute truth to D. Tet-chan loved D, as much if not more than every pet did. Tet-chan adored D to such a great extent that he chose to live as D's servant rather than the freedom of his wild life he had enjoyed before he and D had run into each other. Tet-chan was fiercely jealous and protective and this suddenly worry that Leon would prefer this strange newcomer to D was completely unexpected.  
  
"Leon will not hurt me." D said, confidently. It was one of the very few things that D could say with absolute confidence. Leon might be subject to mood swings and flares of a fiery temper, but he would never do anything that would hurt D. Not maliciously, at any rate. "Thank you for your concern, but I will handle Leon." He knew that Tet-chan's second statement had been true, also. Tet-chan's loyalty and love for Chris was second only to his love for D. Tet-chan was the perfect guardian for the frail little human and D had been very happy that he'd given Chris to Tet-chan. Still, D sighed. "If Leon wishes to be with that person more than he wishes to be here, that is his choice. I do not approve of slavery, Tet-chan, and I never keep any creature here against their will. That includes Leon." Then he assumed his usual serene appearance to reassure Tet-chan. "But, there is no reason to think Leon has any sort of desires for this Ritsu person. Leon is nothing if not honest and if he says he is merely walking Ritsu home, then that is what he is doing."  
  
Tet-chan nodded solemnly before he turned to leave and, when the door closed behind Tet-chan, D found himself thinking that perhaps it was best if Leon did take an interest in Ritsu. D knew he would never be able to have Leon, not in the way he wished to. Even if Leon had a change of heart and decided that he wished to be with D, it wasn't possible. 'I'm just being cruel, to Leon and to myself.' D told himself as he finished the bandage on his hand. 'Can there be anything more selfish than to hold a person so tightly when you know you will bring them nothing but pain? Surely, that can't be love. If I really loved him, I wouldn't hurt him and I know that if I keep him so close, it will happen. I will break his heart...in the end.'  
  
D felt all his resolve to let Leon go when he walked back into the parlor and saw Leon sitting with Ritsu on the sofa. D watched them, half hidden behind one of the large screens that separated his parlor from the rest of the petshop, and his eyes fixed on the blond detective he'd grown so close to over the past year. It was becoming hard for D to imagine life without his brash friend. 'Papa and Sofu would agree that I am to much involved with Leon. They would be correct, but I can not seem to help myself. Stupid, foolish...I will have to distance myself from him. It is for the best, his as well as mine. If he becomes attached to me, he will only end up crying.'  
  
D shook his heads and turned his eyes to the guest, Ritsu. It was far more important that he get Ritsu away from the petshop, least his papa come to investigate. The thought that papa D was so close that he had been able to see Leon and Ritsu approaching the petshop and he worried for the safety of his beloved pets. Several of D's pets had once belonged to his papa and many of them had suffered for it. Tet-chan, in particular.  
  
If the Kami had one fault, it was their acquisitiveness. All of them, Sofu, papa, and D, loved to collect. Everything from worms to dragons were collected like humans collected stamps and the rarest animals were the most prized. D had managed to collect mermaids, unicorns, teddy bears, butterflies, and Qi-Lins. But, of all these animals, D would quickly admit, that Tet-chan was the pinnacle was his collection. The Tou-Tetsu was so rare that D wasn't even sure how many of them existed on Earth. He sometimes wondered if his Tet-chan was the last and he grieved if that were the truth. That meant that Tet-chan would be the last of his kind and he would, unfortunately, die without breeding. What a loss that would be.  
  
Of course, now, as D peered around the corner of the screen at the human like creature who sat with Leon a second desire overcame D. He still feared that his papa would come and disrupt the petshop, but now D also felt the stirring of greed. A new animal, something he'd never even heard of or seen, and D wanted it. If Ritsu was one of the mysterious Zodiac animals papa D had discovered, that meant that these creatures were so rare they'd even surprised papa D. Perhaps even Sofu hadn't heard of them. D's heart quickened at the thought of having such a rare animal in his collection. Maybe he would decide to keep Ritsu.  
  
First thing was first; he had to work on figuring out what Ritsu was. 'I will try to taste his blood. That should help, though if I am right, and Ritsu is one of these mysterious zodiac animals my papa discovered, I am not certain what I will do. Papa sounded very eager on the telephone.' Putting a smile on his face, D entered the parlor with Tet-chan's cake in hand. 'I will ask him and I will taste his blood. When I know what he is, I will know what to do.'  
  
D balanced the cake tray on one hand and pulled a small vial from the folds of his robes. It was small, only about an inch tall and crystal clear except for a few drops of green liquid. He'd never had to use this particular chemical before, but he had absolute faith that it would work. After all, it was Sofu who had given it to him. With a steady hand, D unstopped the vial and poured a single drop of the liquid into an incense burner that hung from the ceiling. He waited a moment until the sizzling of the burning liquid stopped and the soft smell began to slowly filter into the air. Only then did he go back into the parlor with a smile on his face and he waited until the effects of the chemical took affect on his guests.  
  
How satisfied Leon would be if he knew all his suspicions about D being involved in drugs were correct. Well...sort of.  
  
Chris-  
  
"He's here." The person who said that wasn't a normal little boy. Chris knew this because Philip had the funniest eyes, completely black. He also never came out of the ocean where Chris had first met him. "Your brother's with the Count, now. He's brought a guest."  
  
~How can you tell?~ Chris asked. He sat on a large rock with just his feet dangling in the water while Philip floated near him. As always, Philip wore his black skin suit and his hair was slicked back. Chris had always been curious about how Philip and the rest of people who lived in the petshop always seemed to know what was going on  
  
"I just do." Philip answered carelessly. "Tet-chan will be here soon to get you, so you should get back to shore."  
  
~Do you think he'd coming swimming with us sometime?~ Chris asked, getting ready to lower himself into the water with Philip.  
  
Philip laughed happily. "I don't think he's the type for swimming. He wouldn't like the Count to see him all dripping wet." They swam the short distance to shore together and found Tet-chan waiting for him with a towel and a change of clean clothes. Indeed, Tet-chan didn't look like he wanted to get at all close to the water.  
  
~Tet-chan, is big brother here?~ Chris asked as soon as he got out of the water.   
  
"Yes, yes." Tet-chan impatiently handed Chris the towel before addressing Philip. "Thanks for keeping an eye on him. Come on, Chris, your stupid brother brought someone to the petshop and I don't like it."  
  
~Why not?~   
  
Tet-chan frowned and looked away. "Nothing you should worry about. You want some cake?."  
  
~Sure!.~ Chris grabbed Tet-chan's hand and began pulling his friend towards the door that would lead into the main part of the petshop.. ~Bye, Philip! I'll come back tomorrow!~ Chris spent most of his days with his friends in the petshop, especially now that it was summer and there was no school to interrupt his play. There was Pon-chan, the cute little girl who always took his side, and Philip who was one of the kindest people Chris had ever met. Philip was his first friend, but he could only see Philip in the one room of the petshop that had a whole ocean in it.   
  
Chris wasn't sure exactly how there could be an ocean in a petshop, but then again, he wasn't exactly sure how the petshop had so many rooms in it. There was a jungle room, lots of bedrooms, a desert room, and a room filled with snow. All he knew was that it was possible and it was real. Being sent to live with his big brother and the Count was the best thing that had ever happened to Chris. He loved living in the Petshop with all his friends, after all, everyone could understand him here.  
  
Tet-chan, Pon-chan, and Philip were Chris' best friends, but he knew almost everyone in the petshop. Tet-chan was the one who always went with him if he went anywhere outside the petshop with the one exception of school. Even then, Tet-chan normally walked with Chris to the gates of the school and was waiting outside the gates after school let out for the day. Truth be told, Tet-chan was probably the friend Chris was closest to. Tet-chan wasn't sweet like Pon-chan or gentle like Philip, but Tet-chan was strong and brave and he never let anything hurt Chris. Chris also knew others, like Ten-chan, a strange laughing boy with one long red braid who said he was new to the petshop and eager to please the Count. Chris also knew, and was fond of, Hon Ron. He called her Hon Ron for simplicities sake, but she was far more complicated than that one name.  
  
The little girl with solid red eyes lived in a huge room of the petshop and, when he'd first met her, Hon Ron had told Chris how lonely she was. She said that he was the first friend she'd ever had and that she wished he would stay with him. No one ever visited the large room Hon Ron lived in except the Count. She was also three people in one body.  
  
Hon Ron was Junrei, a little girl who wished for a friend more than anything.  
  
Hon Ron was Kanan, a volatile, angry girl who fought for what she wanted.  
  
Hon Ron was Shukuo, wise and gentle.  
  
Today, though, he didn't stop at Hon Ron's room as he hurried though the halls of the petshop with Tet-chan. He was in far to much of a hurry to see his big brother and he charged into the parlor with Tet-chan and threw himself at Leon.  
  
Ritsu-  
  
  
  
There was something about Count D that affected Ritsu, but he wasn't certain what it was. The moment Count D had walked into the room with a large cake balanced easily on one hand, everything had seemed to change. When he and detective Orcot had first entered the quaint little petshop it had seemed very ordinary, if a tad creepy. He liked it, though. Despite the strange calls of animals and dark shadows that lurked in all the corners, Ritsu felt strangely relaxed in the petshop.   
  
"You sure you're gonna be all right?" Detective Orcot asked, looking at Ritsu the moment Count D had left the room.  
  
Ritsu hadn't missed the looks that went between the blonde detective and the petshop owner, it would have been hard to miss such a thing.  
  
"What? Oh," Ritsu followed detective Orcot's glance down to his own wrist. "Yes, it'll be fine." It was the truth, Ritsu's wrist just throbbed a bit and ti was well bandaged. He couldn't worry anyone just for a tiny bit of pain. His bruised face was aching almost as much as his wrist, but Ritsu was determined not to let the good detective know about it. He was already being to kind in his offer to walk Ritsu back to his hotel and now his boyfriend was offering Ritsu tea and cake. He couldn't impose any more and, besides, Hatori would be angry if he found out that Ritsu had gone to a normal doctor. Akito would be furious.  
  
"Hey, Chris!" Mr. Orcot looked away from Ritsu when the doors that supposedly led to the inner rooms of the petshop flew opened and a little blonde child that looked remarkably like Mr. Orcot ran in and threw himself into Mr. Orcot's arms. "How's it going? You behaving yourself for D?"  
  
The little boy smiled up at Mr. Orcot and opened his mouth, but he didn't speak. That didn't seem to bother Mr. Orcot who hugged Chris and let the boy get comfortable on his lap before Count D reentered the room and a strange smell began to filter into the room.  
  
"I get the feeling you want to say something, Leon." Count D said after he'd sat and began to pour out tea. His eyes fell on Leon and he waited silently for an answer.  
  
"How did you know?" Leon scowled at Count D and asked, suspiciously, "Did Jill call you?"  
  
"Of course not. I am simply worried about you. Your eyes appear stressed and you seem tense."  
  
"Do I? Yeah, well, I did have something to tell you. I'm going on vacation, so I won't be around for a while."  
  
The room seemed to freeze for a moment. "Really?" Count D asked. "And where might you be going?"  
  
"Just to visit a penpal of mine in Japan. It'll be for a couple of weeks, but I wondered if you'd mind me leaving Chris for so long. I'd hate to take him away from his home, especially when he's just starting to settle in."  
  
"That will be no problem, I assure you. Your brother is a delight to have around."  
  
In Mr. Orcot's lap, Chris tugged on his brother's shirt to get his attention. He yawned, but looked at Mr. Orcot questioningly. His face looked a little hurt and he opened his mouth, though he didn't speak.  
  
"No, it's not that." Mr. Orcot said, as if his brother had said something. "I DO want you around, honest. I don't think you'd have any fun, though. It's going to be long, dull hours on a plane and then days of hanging around with me and my friend. Trust me, you don't want to come. Don't worry, I'll call every night and I'll bring a souvenir home for you." He, too, yawned suddenly. "Is it just me or is getting warm in here, D?"  
  
"I am sure you are simply tired." Count D replied, taking a sip of his tea. "I will admit, your vacation comes as something of a surprise, Leon. I was not even aware that you had a pen pal in Japan."  
  
Mr. Orcot slouched down at bit in his seat, cuddling his brother to him. "Never thought to mention him."  
  
"Him?" Count D asked.  
  
Mr. Orcot closed his eyes. "Yeah...this guy..." He indicated Ritsu by jerking his head in Ritsu's direction. "He's my friend's cousin...I think." He yawned yet again. "Jeeze, I'm so beat. Didn't think I was this tired."  
  
The scent was starting to relax Ritsu but, at the same time, he seemed incredibly alert. The shadowy petshop became very clear and it felt as thought he could see and heart everything. Every sound was as clear as crystal and the deep colors of the petshop were almost blindingly vibrant. His eyes began to wander the room as he became more relaxed and comfortable and he saw the small furry animal sitting near Count D's chair. He'd seen it when he and Mr. Orcot had first entered the petshop, but hadn't really noticed it. It was strange, not like any animal Ritsu had ever seen before, and it was looking right at him. There was a terrible malice in it's eyes, as if it would kill him without hesitation.  
  
Yet Ritsu wasn't upset or even as disturbed as he thought he should be. Instead, he felt sort of...vague.  
  
At one point Ritsu glanced at Mr. Orcot and found the detective almost entirely asleep. Little Chris was sound asleep, snoring softly on his brother's chest. Mr. Orcot's eyelids were half closed and his head was lolled to the side, resting on his fist. A rustle made Ritsu look at Count D. The rustling was made by Count D's outfit and Ritsu watched numbly while the Count stood and calmly walked over to the sleepy detective.  
  
"Time to sleep, kaiji-san. You will feel much better in a few minutes." Count D whispered gently and he raised one hand and put it on the side of Mr. Orcot's face. His voice sounded far away, but Ritsu heard it very clearly. It was a good voice and Ritsu liked it. So soft...soothing... "Rest your eyes, Leon."  
  
Mr. Orcot muttered something, but he did as Count D had suggested and slid down a little further into his seat as his eyes closed all the way. "D...?"  
  
"Hush." Count D smiled and seemed very satisfied. "Just a short rest, Leon. You will wake up soon." Count D ran his fingers lightly though Leon's hair and looked almost entranced by the blond locks for a moment. Count D tore himself away from Mr. Orcot and looked to the little boy, Chris. When he was sure that both of them were asleep, Count D returned to his high backed chair and looked at Ritsu. "Are you feeling tired, also?"  
  
"A bit. I feel...odd." Ritsu answered. He was tired, but he didn't feel as if he'd fall asleep. His whole body did feel heavy. "What's that smell?"  
  
"Nothing to worry about. Come, sit with me." He motioned with one long nailed finger for Ritsu to come closer and Ritsu obeyed.  
  
The world fell away as Ritsu came closer to Count D. Every step he took, the room around them faded and soon Ritsu could see nothing but Count D's beautiful face. Such a perfect face...why, Ritsu was sure he knew someone who was as beautiful as the Count...someone with very long silver hair and eyes that were green yellow. The name escaped him, though. Strange, as Ritsu was sure that silver haired person had been someone special.  
  
He fell to his knees before Count D and was happy. There was another person Ritsu had knelt before, another person who had made Ritsu pleased to humble himself before, but that person seemed very far away. Ritsu couldn't remember anything about them, except that this person had taken away a great source of pain and fear. He remembered small hands with long, fragile fingers. Dark eyes and...and...and Count D smiled and Ritsu forgot everything. There was nothing. Nothing besides two mismatched eyes and such a soft voice.   
  
"Tell me, what is your name, child?"  
  
Ritsu loved the voice. "Souma Ritsu." He answered readily.  
  
Count D touched the side of Ritsu's face and Ritsu leaned into the touch. It felt so good to be allowed a touch by the Count. "Where do you come from, Ritsu?"  
  
"Japan. I live at the Souma hot springs, outside Tokyo."  
  
"What are you?"  
  
Ritsu fell silent. There was something important about that question. Something he really had to remember. A hard voice told him not to tell the secret. It was dangerous and he'd hurt people if he told the secret.  
  
"What are you?" Count D persisted.  
  
Ritsu couldn't take his eyes off Count D's. Such beautiful eyes. "Not supposed to tell." Ritsu said, weakly. He hated the answer, felt sure that Count D would be displeased with him and that was the last thing he'd wanted. He wanted to make Count D happy. "It's against the rules."  
  
"What rules?"  
  
"The rules. He'll be so angry if I tell." Fear started to take hold of Ritsu, squeezing his chest. "I don't want him to be angry with me."  
  
"Who will be angry?"  
  
"I...I can't tell you. I'll get in trouble."  
  
The gentle hands touched Ritsu's face again and he felt the growing panic subside into pleasure at the touch. "I won't let anyone hurt you. I can protect you. Tell me...who makes rules for you?"  
  
Protect? Ritsu knew there was only one person who could protect him. There was only one person in the whole world who was strong enough and brave enough to protect him, but Ritsu couldn't remember the name. It wasn't Count D, as wonderful and beautiful as he was, Count D couldn't protect him. Count D wasn't...wasn't who?  
  
"Who? Who protects you?"  
  
Had Ritsu said that all out loud? He didn't think so.  
  
"I'll get in trouble. I don't want them to be mad at me."  
  
"Why would they be mad?"  
  
"If I hurt them. If I make a mistake. They'll send me away and then I'll be alone. I don't want to be alone."  
  
"Are you not alone now?"  
  
"No. My family," But Ritsu thought maybe he shouldn't speak. He wasn't supposed to talk about family to outsiders. "My family takes care of me. I don't want them angry with me."  
  
"Why would they be angry?"  
  
"If I tell the secret."  
  
"What secret?"  
  
"The curse."  
  
"What curse?"  
  
Ritsu opened his mouth and then closed it again. He couldn't tell. That would be bad. Telling was bad and talking was bad. People would be hurt and Akito would be very, very angry. The terrible fear began to loom up within Ritsu again, the horror of what would happen if anyone ever found out about the curse. He'd seen what had happened to Yuki when he'd been discovered. He'd seen Hatori's devastation at losing Kana.  
  
Count D pressed, "Tell me, what curse?"  
  
"No curse." Ritsu lied and he felt a terrible pain, deep inside his mind when he lied at those beautiful eyes. "No curse." The pain struck again, though only for a moment. He started to cry and the beautiful eyes blurred before him. "No curse, there is no curse!" Everything went black and the next thing Ritsu was aware of, Mr. Orcot was shaking him awake.  
  
"Come on, Miss Souma. It's getting late, we gotta get going." Mr. Orcot pulled Ritsu to his feet and he stood shakily. Mr. Orcot grinned. He acted as if nothing had happened but Ritsu knew something was wrong. He felt foggy, like he'd just woken from a deep, disturbing dream. Mr. Orcot shook his head. "Damn, D, see what that incense did? I always told you it smelled to strong in here. It's a wonder more people don't pass out in here." But he smiled at Count D when he said it. He leaned over and Ritsu noticed that the little boy, Chris, was still sound asleep on the sofa. He was such a cute child and Ritsu was reminded of a younger Momiji. "See ya, D. I'll stop by later, okay?"  
  
Count D simply nodded and, as Ritsu left with Mr. Orcot, his eyes met Ritsu's. Ritsu shivered and turned away, eager to get away from those eyes, but he wasn't sure why.  
  
Count D-  
  
Count D was more than a little impressed by Souma Ritsu and he watched the person go with more than a little disappointment. Ritsu hid a strong mind and personality behind the facade of a weak human. No animal had ever been able to resist the drug D had put into the incense burner, yet Ritsu had kept his secrets, though it had clearly pained him. The drug was intended to cause pain to encourage the person under its influence to tell the truth, but D hated putting any animal in pain. He'd stopped the effect on Ritsu when the pain had begun and it became clear that Ritsu wouldn't tell his secrets.  
  
'Stronger than he looks. I do believe I've found papa's Zodiac animals. He must be the monkey, I'm sure I tasted monkey in his blood. I think I would like to go to Japan and find out more about this family.'  
  
As D sat there thinking, Tet-chan quietly made his way to where Chris still slept on the sofa. Leon had laid Chris down just after he'd woken up, hoping that he wouldn't wake his little brother. D knew the drug had worn off of Chris at exactly the same time as it had Leon and Ritsu, but Chris was simply tired and he would likely sleep till the morning. Tet-chan lifted up Chris and held him protectively.  
  
"I wish you wouldn't use that stuff, Master." Tet-chan grumbled, looking sleepy eyed. "Takes forever to clear up." He trudged off without another word, no doubt taking Chris to his bedroom, but before he left the parlor, D spoke.  
  
"Tet-chan, how would you like to take a trip to Japan?"  
  
Later-  
  
Back at the Gillian hotel Ritsu's mind was finally starting to clear. It had all seemed like a bit of dream and Ritsu put it down to his injuries. Hatori had told him once that head injuries could do all sorts of unpleasant things to one's mind.  
  
So Ritsu sat on the hotel bed and tried to think clearly. He really couldn't remember much after Count D had served tea and that worried him. He sort of remembered the Count asking him about his family, but he couldn't remember what he'd said. What if he'd told the count something terrible?  
  
"Hatori-san?"  
  
"Hello, Ritsu. How's your trip?"  
  
"Well..." And Ritsu proceeded to tell Hatori about his day. The attack, his visit to the police station, and then to the petshop.  
  
"I see. Are you sure you have no injuries but your wrist and your head?"  
  
"Nothing worth mentioning."  
  
"Ritsu." Hatori's voice was warning and Ritsu knew the tone. Hatori thought Ritsu wasn't telling him something.  
  
"I'm telling the truth, honestly. I've got a few scratches and little bruises, but nothing that really hurts."  
  
"All right. I want you home, immediately. Don't waste any time. I'll have a reservation at the airport when you arrive in the morning. For tonight, set your alarm clock to wake you every one hour. I want you to walk down to the lobby and spend fifteen minutes just walking around. Then go back to bed. You'll be tired in the morning, but it's all for the best. I'll give you a proper exam as soon as you arrive home. Are you sure you aren't in any real danger?"  
  
"I'll be fine until I get home. Thank you, Hatori." Ritsu was, by now, clutching at the phone receiver with both hands. He could hear the disapproval in Hatori's voice and he knew that Ayame was very close to Hatori. He hoped that Ayame wouldn't be angry with him when he returned home. "Oh, could you tell me where Ayame is, please?"  
  
"Yes, he's right here. Hold on." The line went quiet for what seemed like a long time and Ritsu guessed that Hatori must be speaking to Ayame. Then,  
  
"HELLO!" Ayame's ever-cheerful voice nearly shouted through the telephone. "Ritsu-chan? How are you, my boy? It's been so long." His voice turned abruptly harsh. "Tori said you were attacked?! Are you sure you're all right? You aren't dying are you?" He actually sounded as if he might cry. "I'll rush to save you if you need me. How dare those hoodlums put their filthy hands on you, ohhhh...when Akito hears of this..."   
  
"Ayame, I'm glad to hear your voice. I'll not hurt, really. You're to kind for your concern." Ritsu smiled and felt sorry that Ayame wouldn't be able to see his smile. "Ummm...Y-you aren't angry with me, are you?"  
  
"Angry?" Ayame sounded honestly puzzled. "Whatever for?"  
  
Ritsu moved himself back until he was sitting on the bed with his feet up and his back against the pillow. This made him look down at his knees, covered by the feminine looking kimono. He felt hot tears spring to his eyes as he was painfully reminded of why he'd been attacked in the first place.  
  
-Damn! This freak's not even a girl!-  
  
"I wasn't strong enough, Ayame." Ritsu whispered into the phone as the memories of what had happened just a few hours ago came rushing back to him. He'd only wanted to go out for a walk.  
  
-What the Hell? This fag's just beggin' for trouble isn't he?-  
  
"I tried to be. I tried to fight, just like you would. But...I'm just to weak." Ritsu's feet were still sore from when he'd tried to run. They'd chased him down, one of them grabbed him by the hair and pulled him to the ground by it. He could still feel their dirty hands all over him. They ripped his kimono, his beautiful kimono that Ayame had given him. Ayame had hand made the entire outfit and Ritsu hadn't even been strong enough to take care of such a precious thing. They'd ripped it and laughed when he'd cried. Ritsu had hit one, with his only free hand, but it was a pitiful blow, one that Kyou or Yuki or Hatsuharu would have snorted at. It didn't do any good. "I didn't want to cry, but I couldn't stop."  
  
"Oh...Ritsu." Ayame's voice was pained, and Ritsu felt a fresh blast of guilt. Now he'd gone and made Ayame feel badly when that was the last thing he'd wanted to do. "Ritsu-chan, you mustn't feel like that." Ayame's voice had lost all the good-natured humor it usually held and he sounded strangely serious. "Please, do as Hatori says and come home right away. We need to have a long talk, you and I. I'm not angry at you, I'm very proud that you tried to fight. Not everyone's a fighter, you know."  
  
"You are."  
  
"You aren't me. You're Ritsu."  
  
Ritsu pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them tightly to him. "I don't want to be Ritsu."  
  
A pause on the other end. "I know. It's such a shame, though. I'm very fond of Ritsu." Ayame took a deep breath. "Come home safe. The flight from California shouldn't take to long and I'll pick you up at the airport. All right?"  
  
It was times like this that Ritsu found himself unbearably jealous of Yuki. He would haved loved to have Ayame as his big brother. Most of the time, Ayame acted like a big brother, anyway. "Oh, I almost forgot. I met a friend of yours here."  
  
"A friend? Who?"  
  
"Leon Orcot. He says he knows you."  
  
Ayame squealed with delight. "Oh, that's wonderful! How is he? What's he like? Tell me everything!" From the strained tone of his voice, Ritsu could tell that, though Ayame was happy to hear about his penpal, he was glad for the change of subject.  
  
"Well, I've only just met him a couple of hours ago. But, he said he'd like to come visit you as soon as possible."  
  
Ritsu could imagine Ayame's overjoyed expression as he cried out, "That's fantastic! Tell him to get on the plane with you in the morning, I'll arrange everything!" He went on for nearly an hour about how happy he was to be having his friend visit and having Ritsu home before Ritsu finally said goodbye and hung up.  
  
After hanging up the phone, Ritsu went to the windows and pulled the shades down and began undressing. He took off the ornate kimono Ayame had made for him and all the little accessories that made him feel more like a girl. He washed off the slight bit of make-up and took off his earrings until, after a short while, he stood naked before the tall mirror that hung on the wall of his hotel room and Ritsu looked at himself, closely.  
  
'I'm definitely a boy. I KNOW I'm a boy.' Sure he was a bit thin and his hair was very long, but looking at himself like this, there was no mistaking the truth that Ritsu was a boy. 'So...why do I still feel wrong?' Ritsu didn't like the way he looked when he looked at himself. He looked completely wrong. He felt completely wrong. Therefore... 'I must be wrong. I'm not normal, even for a Souma.' Ritsu had tried, for a long time, to be a normal boy. He'd asked Kazuma for fighting lessons, but it hadn't worked out. He just wasn't a fighter. Ritsu had gone to the same all boy's school Ayame had gone to, but where Ayame was popular and ruled the school, Ritsu was called names and had no friends. Nothing ever seemed to work for him. He always ended up alone and crying.  
  
Then, as if my magic, Ritsu had been sent to Rin's house to play when he was seven years old. He was told that she had few friends and the family hoped that the two of them would grow close. That didn't happen, but something wonderful did happen. Rin had left him alone so she could go see Hatsuharu and, alone in Rin's room, Ritsu had discovered her closet full of clothes. He'd undressed and put on one of her dresses and looked in the mirror. Ritsu felt...normal. He stepped closer to the mirror and looked at himself more closely. It felt good.  
  
The moment of happiness had ended when Ritsu's mother and Rin's mother had walked into find him like that. For a moment, he hadn't understood what made his mother burst into tears and he ran to her smiling and trying to reassure her that everything was all right, now. He had found out what had been wrong all this time and he knew how to fix it. He wanted to be a girl.  
  
Now, looking at himself in the hotel mirror, Ritsu knew why his mother hadn't been able to look at him for the rest of the day. Even something that made him feel normal was wrong.  
  
'It's no use.' Ritsu sighed as he turned off the light switch. 'No matter what I do, I'm going to hurt someone.' He climbed into bed, still naked. It would feel wrong to wear men's pajamas to bed. Wearing women's nightdress would be wrong. So, if he couldn't be right and he couldn't be happy, Ritsu would be nothing. That was a good solution, wasn't it? At night, he could get away with not choosing what to wear. It didn't matter.   
  
Tomorrow would be a better day. He'd be off home.  
  
Elsewhere-  
  
"So...I've finally found them. The Zodiac." Papa D smiled. "Now, I just have to find my cat."  
  
To be continued...  
  
Dear readers, hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hadn't planned on adding Papa D, but he just slipped in when I wasn't looking. I'll bet Evil Little god of Writing had something to do with this. 


	14. Falling

Long Denied  
  
Chapter 14 Falling  
  
Japan-  
  
Hatori-  
  
'This is a bad idea.' Hatori couldn't help the feeling of dread as they waited in the airport. He stood with his black coat held tightly against him, as if by some impossibly miracle the fabric would protect him against accidental collisions with females. He stood absolutely still and kept his eyes focused on the airfield where planes came and went with clockwork precision. They were waiting for one plane in particular and it seemed, to Hatori, that it would never come.  
  
"Where are they? You don't think anything happened to them, do you? Surely, someone would come and let us know if there had been some horrid accident." Ayame was also more than a little impatient, though he didn't seem at all worried about collisions as he bounced around, eagerly waiting for the arrival of his long-awaited penpal. "I mean, what if they were mugged again on their way to the airport?"  
  
"Didn't you say your friend was a police officer? He isn't likely to get mugged."  
  
"Even a police officer has bad luck, you know! Besides, maybe there was a car crash and they were killed before they even reached the airport. Maybe poor little Ritsu got sick and they were delayed, you know how upset he gets."  
  
"He isn't as fragile as he thinks he is. Ritsu would be a lot happier if he'd have some confidence in himself."  
  
"That's neither here nor there, Ritsu is who he is. The point is, it could be anything." From his demeanor, Hatori could tell that Ayame was starting to panic as his worry grew. He was starting to lick his lips as he spoke, making his words sound very odd as he spoke. "You're always hearing about plane crashes and hijackers in the news. What if...?"  
  
"If you don't stop saying 'what if?' I might have to gag you, Ayame. For his faults, Ritsu does not lie and he would have told me on the phone if he were to badly injured to fly without family." If that had been the case, and Ritsu was afraid he would transform because of injuries, Akito would have been forced to send someone from the family to collect Ritsu. They wouldn't have been able to risk the airline, because of all the people, so the family's private jet would have had to be used.  
  
Ayame stopped all of a sudden and his quick change in temperament caught Hatori's attention. Instead of his frantic jumping around and vocal guesses of what might have happened, Ayame put one hand against the cold glass of the window that overlooked the airfield. "No. I think he may have lied to you, 'Tori."  
  
"Oh?" It was well known how close Ayame had grown to Ritsu and if there were anyone who knew Ritsu intimately, it was Ayame. "If Akito found out that Ritsu wandered the world, alone..."  
  
Hatori's blinded eye twitched uncontrollably at the mention of Akito's name. "Yes, I see your point." Hatori's interruption stopped Ayame before he said anything that might have caused any suspicion that the Souma family was anything but normal, ordinary people. Akito had no idea that Ritsu loved to travel so far from the family. Ritsu was the only cursed Souma in living memory who'd traveled to other countries like Australia, Germany, and Hawaii. If Akito found out it would be the end of Ritsu's travels. Not only that, but Akito would likely decide to order Ritsu to live on the estate instead of with his mother at the hot springs and there would probably even be physical punishment for the transgression. Of course, everyone else in the family knew Ritsu traveled, for safety's sakes, but it was a secret carefully kept from Akito. Ayame was right. Ritsu would have lied about his health if it would keep Akito from finding out his secret.  
  
For a boy who thought he had so little strength and courage, Ritsu took great risks. He traveled, though he knew it would displease Akito, and he gamboled with his own health to keep his freedom. Even more than that, at such a young age, Ritsu traveled all around the world, alone. He never asked anyone to go with him and, from what he said, being away from the family made Ritsu calmer and more confident. Hatori often thought that Kyou would benefit from being away from the family a little more, maybe that would help Kyou get away from the idea that he HAD to be included in the zodiac. He wondered if he should encourage Kyou to go on a vacation. Not with Ritsu, perhaps. Ritsu would infuriate Kyou and Ritsu wouldn't appreciate the company, anyway.  
  
Hatori refocused on the black, cracking tar of the airstrip. He didn't want to let Ayame know that he, too, was worried. The plane was twenty-five minutes late and every minute that Ritsu was away, the more pain he was likely in. The boy hated himself so deeply that he wouldn't even allow himself to admit if he was hurt because he would just think that he wasn't worthy of any medical treatment. Not only that, but this friend of Ayame's, Leon Orcot, worried Hatori. He had known for a few years about Ayame's penpal; Ayame told him everything. What worried him was that Akito didn't know about Orcot-san. Granted, Ayame wasn't planning to invite his friend to the estate, but there was always a chance that Akito would find out Ayame had a friend outside the main family. It was hard enough to keep the fact that Ayame worked so closely with Mine-chan a secret from Akito and she worked with Ayame every day.  
  
Hatori thanked any god that was listening that Orcot-san wasn't a woman. That could cause real havoc.  
  
"'Tori, what are you thinking?" Ayame tugged on Hatori's jacket sleeve.  
  
"About this friend of yours and Ritsu." Hatori felt a strong craving for nicotine and wished he could smoke. "He could be dangerous." Hatori's mind went easily from what Ayame told him about Orcot-san, a young energetic man, to one of the Souma family jewels, Rin. Rin was no longer a child. In fact, she'd turned into a rather devastatingly beautiful young woman. She was firmly attached to Hatsuharu, that was plain to see, but if some stranger happened to become smitten with her he might try to get a little to close.   
  
"Ah. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll like Leon." Ayame's normal good humor returned and he put his arm around Hatori's shoulder. "He's a very good man."  
  
"How can you say that for sure? You've never met him yourself."  
  
"I just do." His arm tightened around Hatori's shoulders and Hatori was forced to debate with himself about how to react. Should he shrug off Ayame's arm and send a clear signal, ignore the gesture, or what? He knew Ayame loved him, but Hatori didn't feel the same way. He knew a rejection would hurt Ayame, possibly break him, and the thought of hurting Ayame made Hatori feel ill. He couldn't bring himself to tell Ayame that he felt something for him that just wasn't there, it would be a lie. For years this had been going on and Hatori was still unsure of how to handle the situation.  
  
For a man who seemed so superficial, Ayame really did have a very big heart. He wasn't as sensitive as most other people, perhaps, but he really did care about people and he never wanted to hurt anyone. He really would be a gentle lover and Hatori was sure that anyone would be lucky to have Ayame as their 'special someone'. Strangely enough, with all of Ayame's good qualities, which far outweighed his negative quirks, Hatori was pretty sure that Ayame had never picked any lover other than Shigure.  
  
Oh, yes, Hatori knew about that, too. Yuki and Kyou always passed off Shigure and Ayame's flirting as nothing more than the two adults being annoying, but they didn't do it just to tease the children. When Hatori, Ayame, and Shigure had all been teenagers, about sixteen or so, Hatori had walked in on the two of them in a...compromising situation. There had been a few minutes of embarrassed silence on everyone's behalf before Ayame pulled on his robe and Shigure secured a blanket around his waist, but he didn't rise from the bed. Hatori quietly left the room, stunned that he hadn't noticed anything in their behavior that would give away their relationship before that moment. Also...a pang deep in his heart that he couldn't explain.  
  
Ayame wasn't in love with Shigure, though. No more than Shigure was in love with Ayame. Oh, they loved each other, as best friends and cousins, but they were not in love with each other. Hatori figured out quickly that Ayame used Shigure for a relief to his loneliness. A bed warmer, as it were. At first, Hatori had worried that Shigure would be hurt when he learned he was nothing more to Ayame than just someone to fill empty nights with, but that was before Hatori had learned Shigure for exactly the same reason. Shigure loved someone else, too.  
  
How sad that both of them loved people they couldn't have. Shigure, even more than Ayame, was doomed to suffer if he persisted in his love. Ayame, at least, had a chance of one day winning over Hatori, though Hatori very seriously doubted that would happen. Shigure had no chance. It was no wonder Shigure had chosen someone he trusted, Ayame, to spend his nights with. Ayame and Shigure could be sure that neither one would have any expectations of the other after the night was over and there would be no pain for either.   
  
Shigure had never told Hatori who he was in love with, but it wasn't hard to figure out once Hatori started paying more attention. Shigure had a certain fond smile and soft expression he wore for only one person.  
  
Hatori couldn't see Ayame since Ayame was standing on Hatori's blind side, but he could see Ayame's reflection in the window they were both looking out of. What an odd image, to see the milling throngs of men and women, all in such a desperate hurry to be wherever they were headed, and then Ayame still as a stature. Ayame was hardly ever still and when he was, it was certain that he was thinking. 'What could he be thinking of? Probably Ritsu. He was always so concerned about the boy.' Hatori was well used to Ayame's good looks, he'd known Ayame since they were infants in diapers, but even he could understand why Ayame took the breath away from many people. He was very beautiful, even for the normally other-worldly Souma's. Family history said that there had never been an ugly Junikyu. Of course, the cat's original form didn't count. Ayame had to be the most beautiful of all Souma's though.  
  
It hurt Hatori to know he was causing Ayame pain and he wished he could do something to stop that pain. Well, he COULD do something, but he wouldn't. It wouldn't be fair to Ayame for Hatori to pretend to love him.  
  
'But I do love him. How could I not? He's always been at my side and he'd do anything for me. He's my dearest friend, even if he does drive me mad, sometimes. It would just be pretend, though. My heart froze when I lost Kana and it's not fair to Ayame that I pretend anything else. If I let myself love again, I might forget Kana. I couldn't bear that. Our dream was taken away from us, but I won't let go of our love.'   
  
It was a stupid way to think and if it were anyone else, Hatori would have advised them to move on with their life and forget such a painful memory. Kana had married a short time ago and was now living a very happy life with a man who adored her, she would never remember him. He treated Kana like the treasure she was and Hatori could find no fault with him. It wasn't possible to remember memories that had been stolen and Hatori had no way to give them back to Kana. He wouldn't have, even if he'd been able to. What then? Would she have given up her husband for him? No. If her memories suddenly returned, not only would Hatori be in pain, but Kana would be put through Hell and that was something Hatori would not allow. She would never remember him and she would never love him again. Foolish, but though it was absurd to hold onto what wasn't there, one-sided love was still love. Right?  
  
'What about Ayame's one sided loved? I hurt without Kana's love. Does he hurt without mine?' Hatori shook his head slightly. 'I must be truly heartless. Shouldn't I be willing to do anything for the people I love? I do love him, but I'm not sure I can love him the way he wants me to. Maybe...maybe I'm just being stubborn and selfish.'  
  
In the reflection of the window, Hatori's eyes were suddenly drawn away from Ayame and to another figure, standing behind them. He was forced to reconsider his opinion that Ayame was the most beautiful man he'd ever seen. A person in Chinese styled clothing and his face half covered with dark hair. Hatori's heart began to beat faster when the face turned slightly and the person stared directly into Hatori's eyes reflected in the mirror. Such cool eyes.  
  
"Oh! Look!" Ayame was back to his usual self and took his arm off Hatori before he started to hop up and down, pointing at a plane that was just landing. "That's the plane, I'm sure of it! Oh, finally! You just wait here, I'll go fetch them!" Ayame's hair bouned up and down with him, and whirled with him when he turned suddenly and started away from Hatori. Ayame ran off before Hatori could say a word about them staying together.   
  
'He's going to get himself in serious trouble one day!' Just as Hatori turned to call after Ayame he found himself face to face with the stranger he'd seen in the glass.  
  
"Greetings." The man, whose hair actually seemed to be a very dark shade of purple verging on black, was smiling and holding his hands with long, painted fingernails before him. He bowed slightly.  
  
"Hello." Hatori offered a polite bow in return. He was glad the man had spoken, otherwise, he might not have been certain that this wasn't a woman. The voice was definitely a man's voice, though. He didn't like being so close to the stranger, only a few feet separating them. Hatori caught a whiff of some sweet perfume and he knew the man was to close. "If you'll excuse me?" Hatori stepped around the stranger, eager to be away from him.  
  
"But of course." The stranger smiled, his painted lips curving at the corners. "I wouldn't want you to be late meeting your monkey."  
  
Hatori's heart stopped and he felt his throat clench before he whirled around, shocked and puzzled. "What are you...?" He stopped himself short and schooled his expression to it's normal blank appearance. The man merely kept smiling and took a step closer to Hatori, closing the gap between them and it seemed, to Hatori, as if all the crowds around them vanished.  
  
"I find you most interesting." The stranger reached out one hand and touched Hatori's cheek with his long nailed fingers. "You are unusual, if tainted. Still...you can be cleansed of your impurities." The stranger moved no closer as he was speaking, but his hand caressed Hatori's cheek in a frighteningly intimate way.  
  
"Tainted?" Hatori heard his own voice as if it were coming from far away. He felt lightheaded and faint, like the first and only time he'd let Shigure talk him into getting drunk. He didn't like being so close to this man, but he didn't want to move away, either. There was something comforting in this man's touch, as if just by touching him, Hatori had become safe and loved. The touch also made Hatori feel the great power of this man and, for the first time in his life, Hatori feared someone other than the head of his family. He was so afraid, he couldn't move. It felt as if his suit had been starched with cement, he couldn't move a muscle, not even to turn his eyes away from the stranger's.  
  
"Yes. Tainted. Didn't you know...?"  
  
"D!" A furious voice yelled and the man jerked his fingers away from Hatori's face so suddenly that Hatori staggered away, panting and trying to get his heart to stop thudding so wildly, before he looked up and saw who yelled. It was a blonde man, most likely a foreigner, who walked with Ayame and a brown haired young woman. Ayame, as he often did, had linked arms with the blonde man. They had all stopped a short distance from where Hatori stood with the stranger. "What the Hell are you doing here?!" The blonde man demanded.  
  
Ayame-  
  
Leon looked just like Ayame had imagined him. He carried only a small bag, slung over one shoulder and ran a hand through his shaggy hair as he sauntered away down the passage, towards Ayame, but not seeing him. He walked side-by-side with a petite brown-haired girl and was talking almost loudly enough for Ayame to hear him, even at a distance and in the crowded airline terminal. Beside Leon, walking slowly with a barely noticeable limp, Ritsu walked.  
  
'If I ever find who did that to him,' Ayame thought furiously as he took in Ritsu's battered face, 'I'm going to expose their vital organs to daylight. Then...then I'll really hurt them!' Ayame had protected Ritsu for a very long time, first from his father and then within the Souma family. He'd always worried when Ritsu went on one of his trips, but nothing like this had ever happened before. Ritsu was the most harmless of all the Souma's, with the exception of Hatori and Kisa. 'On the other hand, what splendid good luck that Leon was near to help Ritsu!' Ayame paused for a moment when his thoughts went to Leon. 'Look at his hair!' Ayame felt an urge to cry followed by a very strong desire to pull out the pair of scissors he kept in an inner pocket of his robe and give his friend a prompt and much needed hair cut. Leon looked as if he never even combed his lovely blonde hair. Ayame's second thought was that Leon was much bigger than he'd expected. Ayame was small, short and thin, so nearly everyone was bigger than he was, but this was almost ridiculous. Leon must have been nearly six and a half feet tall! Leon's blonde hair stood out in the crowd like a canary in a flock of crows.  
  
Ayame just watched Leon for a moment, thrilled, despite Leon's awful hair, to finally be meeting his penpal after so long. He wondered if Leon would talk to him about Chris and maybe have some advice about what Ayame should do about Yuki. He wondered what Leon would think of the rest of the Souma's and if he could get Leon to model some outfits at the shop. 'He'd look adorable in that little lavender outfit.' Ayame instinctively began to envision Leon in the outfit in question.  
  
Leon suddenly turned away from his lady friend and saw Ayame. He stopped walking and just stared, his blue eyes looking Ayame up and down for a moment. He seemed shocked and Ayame wondered if he should have send Leon a more recent photo of himself, so he wouldn't have been surprised by Ayame's amazing good looks. Then, a smile lit Leon's face and he threw his arms wide.  
  
"Ayame!" Leon shouted at the top of his lungs and charged towards Ayame. He literally shoved his way through the crowds. When he reached Ayame, Leon impulsively threw his arms around him and gave him a quick hug. "Jeeze, you look just like I thought you would!"  
  
Naturally, Ayame gracefully accepted the compliment with a pleased smile. "Of course I do!"  
  
Leon's accent was stilted and heavy with an American accent, but he spoke very well considering he'd never actually been to Japan. "Ayame, this is Jill, my partner." Leon put a hand on the tiny girl's shoulder and she nodded politely.  
  
Ayame was confused and, as usual, didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. "Partner? Your girlfriend?" He frowned, hoping that he'd heard wrong. With luck, Leon had mis-spoken. Ayame looked from Leon to Jill and then back to Leon. Leon did stand very close to Jill and his arm was resting on her shoulders. "But...I thought you were in love with that other person you wrote to me about? What did you call him? D?"  
  
Jill burst out laughing. "Why, Leon! I'm so hurt you didn't tell me first!"  
  
Leon's face went from pleasant to outraged with a delightful blush spreading across his cheeks and over his nose in just a second. "What the Hell do you mean by that!" Was the last intelligible thing Ayame could make out before Leon switched to English with vile spluttering and cursing. Of course, Ayame could speak and understand English perfectly well, but Leon was speaking so quickly that Ayame couldn't understand anything he was saying.  
  
"Leon!" Jill grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to a halt with a scalding look. "Mind your language! Honestly, where do you think you are?" She turned to Ayame with a charming smile. "You'll have to forgive Leon, Souma-san. Leon was raised by a pack of rabid dogs, as you can see. He starts foaming at the mouth when the subject turns a little...uncomfortable." She gave a little laugh. "Leon isn't my boyfriend. We're police partners."  
  
"Ah," Ayame said, pleased that his plans for Mine-chan wouldn't be disrupted. "And this D I've heard so much about?" He didn't want to seem like he was prying, but this was one of the big mysteries he'd wanted to uncover ever since D had starting popping up in the letters from Leon.  
  
Jill gave Leon a strangely evil smile. "Oh, so Leon never told you?"  
  
"Keep quiet!" Leon nearly shouted, though Jill didn't seem at all intimidated and just smiled at Leon.  
  
"Whatever are you getting upset about, Orcot?" Jill asked sweetly, still hanging onto Leon's arm. Ayame knew they must be very close since they were so comfortable touching each other.  
  
Leon growled, but addressed Ayame instead of Jill. "Look, D's a friend. That's it, nothing more. I don't know why everyone makes such a big deal about him! For God's sakes, just because I go see him a lot and he's looking after my brother, everyone gets these filthy ideas about me and him. There's nothing weird or freaky about us, he's just as normal as I am!"  
  
There was a moment of silence after Leon's outburst, not only from Jill, who was stifling giggles, and Ayame, who thought the obvious denial was cute, but from many of the passers by who had heard the vehement denial. Leon suddenly realized exactly how many people were watching him and his face turned an even brighter red before he turned to the gawking crowds and shouted. "What'd ya think you're staring at?!"  
  
Everyone moved on, muttering to each other about the crazy foreigner.  
  
"So," Ayame went on. "He's your very close, intimate friend, but he's definitely not your boyfriend?"  
  
"That's right." Leon paused. "You can leave that 'intimate' word out of it, too."  
  
Ayame decided to let that particular subject drop and he moved in beside Leon, slipping his arm through Leon's. "Ritsu-chan, how are you feeling?" He hadn't forgotten Ritsu in all the excitement and he took Ritsu's arm affectionately. "I was so worried when I heard you'd been hurt. Now you can just stay home and let yourself be pampered for a while. That's why your mother has all those servants at the hot springs, after all." Ritsu tried to protest, but even he couldn't when Ayame was in the mood to talk, so Ayame just continued talking and ignoring Ritsu's insisting that he didn't need to be fussed over. "Wonderful to have you here, Leon, Jill-san. I have a lovely apartment above my shop you can stay in, so you won't have to worry about paying a hotel bill while you're here. Come on, I want you to meet my friend, Hatori."  
  
Ayame made a mental note to let Mine-chan that the object of her affections was in town and he knew Mine-chan would be delighted. Mine-chan would probably see them first thing in the morning, since they'd be staying at the shop. Ever since Ayame had brought the photo of Leon to work to show her, Mine-chan had been fascinated by Jill-san. The photo was actually a clipping out of a newspaper of Leon and Jill at some crime scene. Jill-san wore wire rim glasses and had a sprinkling of freckles across her nose. She wore her curly brown hair up in a ponytail, though some stray strands escaped around her forehead and her ears. She wore a very practical outfit of worn jeans, sneakers, and a sleeveless white shirt. It had been a candid photo of Leon and Jill as they stood talking near a police car at the crime scene and had been cut out of a newspaper. To say the least, it wasn't the most flattering photograph for either Leon or Jill. Both looked tired and far overworked as Jill leaned with one hand on the hood of a car and Lean watched her with tired eyes, one hand rubbing at the back of his neck.  
  
'Mine-chan got stars in her eyes when she saw that picture. I wonder what she'll think when she meets Jill-san.' Jill looked far more attractive now than she did in the photo Ayame had shown Mine-chan. True, she looked tired from the long plane trip, but not nearly so exhausted as she had in the photo.  
  
With any luck, Leon's visit would be quiet and uneventful.  
  
A quiet thought at the back of Ayame's mind whispered, 'Not a chance.'  
  
Leon-  
  
Leon was jealous. It felt like that first time he'd seen D with Wong, the psychotic Chinese chef, and realized there was something going on. When he and Jill had followed D and Wong to that outdoor restaurant and watched from the bushes while Wong put the moves on D. In short, Leon felt like he would either throw up or explode.  
  
D was definitely standing far to close to that man. Some guy in an immaculately tailored dark suit and hair as black as a raven's wing was standing far to close for comfort to D and D touched the guy's face.  
  
For once, Leon had no words to express the sickening, boiling rage that swelled within him except to call it jealousy. Leon's eyesight narrowed until he could see nothing but D whispering something to the tall, too good looking man. His eyesight narrowed even further, down to the face of the man D was talking to. He had a strong profile and Leon could tell, just from the way the man dressed, that he had money. A suit like that would have cost Leon a month's salary.  
  
A man concerned with preserving his dignity would have kept his mouth shut and proudly act as if he'd seen nothing and just walk passed. Leon, however, shouted out, "D! What the Hell are you doing here?!" He stormed towards D, who turned to Leon and didn't look at all surprised to see him, momentarily forgetting Ayame, Jill, and Ritsu. All he could think of was that not only had D somehow made it to Japan ahead of him, found out what airport he'd be at, and where the Hell was Chris?!  
  
Never losing his composure, D stepped only slightly away from the stranger. "Greetings, I am pleased that I was in time to meet you, Leon. I was afraid I would be to late."  
  
Leon grabbed D by the arm and gave him a little shake. "Don't give me that crap! Where's Chris?" He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that the man D had been speaking to had moved quickly away, but didn't leave. He stood near Ayame and the two shared a glance that Leon couldn't interpret.   
  
D managed to look insulted and raise one elegant eyebrow. "Do you believe I left him in America and came on a pleasure trip?"  
  
Leon snorted that away. "No, of course I don't, but where is he?" Leon looked around, but didn't see his little brother anywhere. D wouldn't have left Chris alone and helpless, Leon was certain of that, but he just liked to know Chris was.  
  
"Be at ease." D patted Leon on the arm reassuringly as he extracted himself from Leon's grip. "Little Chris is with Tet-chan at the petshop."  
  
"Petshop? Here? You moved the whole Petshop to Japan?" Leon gaped at D in disbelief. 'He couldn't have moved the whole petshop, not in just a few hours. Okay, maybe he got a couple of plane tickets, he's got the money. But to move the whole petshop? That's impossible.'  
  
"In a manner of speaking." D's eyes shifted to look behind Leon and only then, when Ayame, Ritsu, and Jill caught up with them, did Leon take another look at the well dressed stranger. He was pale and looked shaken, as if he'd just received a terrible shock and now moved to stand by Ayame. Only one eye was visible, but that one eye was very wide and Leon wondered what D had said to this man.  
  
"'Tori? What's the matter?" Ayame asked, frowning at his friend's pale face. "You look..." He stopped talking when his friend shook his head 'no' and kept his eyes firmly on his polished shoes.   
  
Leon knew he wasn't the brightest of people, but even he could tell something was up. He wasn't surprised when Ayame suddenly changed the subject. Ayame continued speaking, this time to Leon, as if nothing were the matter.   
  
"I see you've met 'Tori." Ayame's cheerful voice announced his presence. "Leon, this is my cousin, Souma Hatori. 'Tori, this is Leon, I've told you all about him. And you are...?" This last was addressed to D and Leon was suddenly at a loss as to what he should say. He just KNEW Jill would say something!  
  
"I am known as Count D and you must be Souma Ayame." D stepped passed Leon and bowed slightly to Ayame. "I've heard so much about you, Souma-san. Your young cousin speaks highly of you." He gestured towards Ritsu.  
  
Ayame's eyes widened dramatically. "Ah! How nice to meet you! I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you to be here. Leon's told me so much about you."  
  
"Really?" D turned to Leon and Leon hoped he wasn't blushing.  
  
"Ah!" Hatori, now having regained his coloring and composure, turned his attention away from everyone else and looked at Ritsu. "You sit!" He barked, almost harshly and pointing with an imperious finger to one of the black plastic chairs that lined the waiting room of the airport. Hatori was obviously a man who was accustomed to being obeyed.  
  
"It's really not all that bad, Hatori-sensei." Ritsu muttered, though he went to do as Hatori ordered.  
  
Leon was pretty sure that he disliked Hatori. Not only was Hatori receiving undue attention from D, but now he was acting like the big man in town. Who the Hell did this guy think he was, ordering people around? Sure, he was a doctor, but that didn't give him the right to order people around.   
  
'It doesn't give him the right to be touching D, either. Probably just leading D on, just like he does to Ayame.' Ayame had told Leon, in letters, exactly what his relationship with Hatori, and it didn't help Leon's opinion of Hatori. Hatori had obviously been leading Ayame on for years, playing with him and using him like a fool. 'I hate that kind of person. Dishonest. He probably doesn't even care how much he's hurting Ayame. I bet he does it for some kind of perverse kick.' Leon watched Hatori sit next to Ritsu and start looking him over, completely skipping over what he might possibly feel for D. It was entirely different, not at all like the situation between Ayame and Hatori. 'D just likes to tease, he's not serious.'  
  
"Come on, Orcot." Jill took Leon's arm and gave him a tug, bringing him back to reality. "Time to get going. Are you even paying attention?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"That's what I thought." Jill rolled her eyes dramatically. "Hatori-sensei said he and Ritsu will head back to their homes later, Ayame's going to walk us to his shop where we're going to stay. He says it isn't far and the Count's new shop isn't to far, either." As Jill spoke she nodded to where Ayame was speaking quietly to Hatori and Ritsu, some distance away. Hatori glanced at D for a bare heartbeat before averting his eyes. "I guess Hatori-sensei wants to have time to make sure Ritsu isn't hurt without us all waiting around doing nothing."  
  
"Yeah. Guess you're right." Leon said nothing when Ayame rejoined them and they all started away. His thoughts were still on D touching Hatori's face, Hatori's reaction to the touch, and the fact that D had successfully put himself in the middle of an incredibly dangerous situation. 'I left him and Chris in America for a reason! Now they might be in danger from those Black Scorpion people. What if I can't protect them?'  
  
Ren-  
  
'Where did I go wrong? How did that idiot child get the better of me?' In Ren's eyes, Akito would always been an idiot child to be manipulated and controlled. She simply couldn't understand why things had gone so suddenly wrong and Akito had thrown her off the estate. 'It had something to do with Shigure, I'm sure of that. Shigure and Kureno.' Strange, how it was so hard to remember exactly what had happened that day.  
  
Ren lifted a hand to her face and felt the lumpy mass of scars that hadn't been able to heal after Akito's attack. She'd reported it to the police, but they weren't interested. Most likely, Akito had bought them off. She hadn't even been able to save enough money to pay for cosmetic surgery, so Ren was stuck looking like a reject from some third rate pirate movie. It was Akito's fault.  
  
Ren sat in her apartment, her feet up on the couch as she thought about how much she'd lost. Not only had she lost the vast fortune of the Souma family, but her face...she'd lost her beauty. It almost seemed worse than the lost money.  
  
After all these years, Ren had come to the conclusion that she'd gone the wrong way with Akito. When he was a child, her overpowering method of control had worked well enough, but she should have softened her approach when he started to grow up. As his mind had started slipping, Akito had grown more and more petulant, demanding his independence and his right to run the family as he saw fit.  
  
There were some people in the family who didn't seem to like her control over Akito, though she didn't know why. Shigure, in particular, had subtly gone against her at every opportunity. Every time she'd told Akito to do something or not to do something, Shigure would be there and go directly against her orders. She didn't know why, though.  
  
Akito had always seemed to favor certain members of the family, but Ren never could figure out why. She'd raised Akito since he was about four years old and had been intimately involved with every aspect of his life, but she didn't know why there were people in the family he favored above others. There was Shigure who very obviously had Akito's ear and could get nearly anything he wanted from the head of the family. Then Kureno, whom Akito valued so much that he would spend half the family's fortune to buy him back from those people his parents had sold him to. Ren had never seen the place her nephew had been living after her sister had sold the child until she'd gone to hand over the payment Akito had demanded for Kureno. She hadn't really liked it, a dirty, unsavory place. Still, it wasn't any of her concern if Yoko had chosen to sell the boy, he wasn't her son.  
  
'But...didn't she have a reason for selling him? She said something about...there was reason to think he'd be a great fighter and that someone would be a lot of money for him. Something about his nature.' Ren had often been confused about little things like that. There seemed to be strange lapses in her memory. She couldn't remember Kureno's birth, which she was sure her sister would have wanted her to attended. She couldn't remember the births of some of the younger members of the family or why the old man, Toma, had been locked away in his house at the back of the estate. Had he been mad? Every now and again there was a blank spot in her memory or something that just didn't seem quite right. Like a puzzle piece that didn't seem to fit.  
  
Still, her mind was probably just playing tricks on her. There were more important things to think about.  
  
'I should have full control of the family, by now.' She thought. 'I worked so long...so hard. It all slipped through my fingers because I was trying to hard. I should have poisoned Akito right along with Yahiko. That would have been so much easier. Yahiko was special to Akito, too. He'd always listened to Yahiko before he listened to me. I'd have been given the next head the family to raise and I'd get years of service from that one, too. If only I'd killed Akito when I had the chance.' Her expression hardened. 'I'll find a way to get my power one way or the other. I'll be damned before I die a pauper because of Akito. Akito injured Hatori, for some reason. I can use that. If I tell the police that they need to investigate Akito, they'll surely find out that he's insane and have him locked away. If nothing else, that'll be lovely revenge for casting me out of the family.'  
  
"Perhaps I can help you."  
  
Ren's eyes widened at the voice and she turned her head to see who was in her apartment. There was a man, with very long dark hair and ornate robes. His skin was as white as porcelain and, to add to his exotic appearance, both of his eyes were dark purple. He smiled at her with dark painted lips and Ren felt a shiver of fear. "Who are you?" The door had been locked, she always locked the door!   
  
A soft scent touched Ren's nose, the smell of cinnamon and the fear subsided.   
  
"I am the one who can give you your dreams. I can give you the Souma family." He spoke softly and his voice was like honey seeping into Ren's mind at every word. "Or would you prefer to have your beauty returned? I can do that, also. All I need is for you to do one little thing." The stranger looked so wildly out of place in the middle of Ren's modern apartment. Like some fairy tale creature pulled out of a book, he seemed not quite real.   
  
"How did you get in here?" She should have at least heard him coming in.  
  
"That does not matter. Are you at all interested in my offer? I need such a small thing done."  
  
"What do you need?" Ren did like the offer, though she had no idea how this bizarre looking man could help her gain control of her family or why he would want to. He didn't know her, so it couldn't be a personal reason, unless someone in the family had offended him somehow. That was very possible. No matter what the reason, she wasn't about to make him some kind of partner and split the family fortune. That was all hers!  
  
"I need a child." His smile widened minutely. "A child you have within your reach, one of your kin. Will you give him up to me?"  
  
Ren scowled. She didn't trust this beautiful man. "Who are you?"  
  
"You may call me Doctor D." The cinnamon scent increased slightly and Ren's distrust dulled the tiniest bit.  
  
"You don't look like any doctor I've ever seen."  
  
"There is good reason for that." He moved closer and the smell of cinnamon intensified unpleasantly. "Shall I offer you a contract? I will give you the Souma family and you will help me to retrieve a child. He belongs to me, so it can not be rightly called theft. Your answer? The child I seek will be my payment for providing you with control of your family. A small price for the dream I offer you, surely."  
  
"Which child do you want brought to you? What do you mean he belongs to you?" Perhaps he was the father of one of the children. He looked to young, but...it was hard to judge his age. It was possible. Ren thought of Yuki, the darling prince of the Souma family. Yuki was beautiful enough to be this man's son and he did have similar purple eyes. Even if this Doctor D wasn't Yuki's father, Yuki's good looks were more than enough to draw the attention of some less than scrupulous people. Yuki's mother hadn't been married when she'd become pregnant with Yuki and she'd never told anyone who the father was. It was possible.  
  
The idea of handing one of the Souma children over to this man really didn't bother Ren much, whether he had some kind of relationship to the child or not. Ren's own sister had sold her son, so why shouldn't one more child be sold? There were so many brats in the Souma family, one less wouldn't make any difference.  
  
A part of Ren's mind told her how stupid this was. The police would be called and she would be sent to prison for kidnapping if she were caught. She didn't even know this man, he couldn't be trusted. Even if she weren't sent to prison, when her part in this kidnapping were discovered Akito would order her death. Kureno had a fearsome reputation within the family.  
  
Her reasoning seemed to be overpowered by the mere presence of this man, Doctor D. He made his request sound so simple and the cautious advice Ren gave herself was drowned out. "What child?"  
  
"Souma Kyou."  
  
That did surprise Ren. "Kyou? But...but...he's the cat!" She couldn't help the words that burst from her mouth, though a sick feel hit her in the stomach the moment she'd spoken. One didn't speak to outsiders about the cat. It was taboo and the training from her early childhood still held.   
  
"Oh? You know of the Cat?"  
  
Ren thought about it. She knew Kyou was the cat, all Souma's knew he was the cat. She wasn't sure WHY he had been declared the cat when he was born, though. "Forget I said that." No one liked Kyou anyway. He was the outcast of the family and, by tradition, he'd be imprisoned in a year or two anyway. Come to think of it, Kyou's mother had also been unmarried and never told who the father of her child was. He wasn't as lovely as Yuki, his features were more blunt and coarse than Yuki's. "That'll be easy. No one cares for Kyou, anyway. They won't even notice he's gone, unless things have radically changed in the past few years and I doubt that. He's a fighter, though. A very good one, from what I hear. I won't be able to force him to go anywhere."  
  
"I never said anything about YOU forcing him to do anything. I will take care of that child. You will simply be providing me with a distraction."  
  
"What kind of distraction?"  
  
"There is someone in this city whom I do not wish to notice me. With this person is a young boy he cares for greatly. If you cause this boy to vanish for a few short hours, I will be able to gain hold of the Cat without this person becoming suspicious."  
  
"Who are you afraid of?"  
  
"Afraid of?" Doctor D laughed, a soft bell-like sound. "I fear no one. Should my son become involved, my task will become more difficult. He is young and easily confused. He does not understand the importance of what I seek." Doctor D ran a hand through his long hair and Ren was reminded of a woman posing, showing off her beauty. "There is something he will understand in just a few short years, but he hasn't learned that lesson, yet. He will. And when he does, he will know that I am right."  
  
"Your son? Huh. Well, what's the name of the kid you need out of the way."  
  
Doctor D's eyes seemed to take on an unearthly glow and Ren felt a chill run down her spine. "The boy's name is Christopher Orcot. With him gone, I will have Kyou. I will have my Cat."  
  
Akito-  
  
You're getting sicker, you know.  
  
In his bedroom Akito sat on the edge of his bed and looked into the mirror that hung on his wall. It wasn't a terribly big mirror, but it was big enough to see his entire face from the shoulders up. Hatsuharu had given him the mirror for one of his birthdays, the one just after he'd sent Ren away and had Hatori steal her memories of the cursed Junikyu. Around the frame of the mirror Hatsuharu had painted little zodiac animals. Akito had always liked the mirror, but now he was having second thoughts about it. Akito looked closer at the mirror, almost hoping his eyes were playing tricks on him. Perhaps he should ask Hatori to examine his eyes.  
  
It's no good. Don't bother to look to closely, I'm not going away.  
  
Akito couldn't help but look over his shoulder before he looked at himself in the mirror again. He was alone in the room, but in the mirror, two faces stared back at him. The frightening thing was that they were both identical, they were his faces. Akito knew one of the reflections was him, because it blinked when he did and when he raised his hand, it raised its hand. The second reflection stayed still, as if it were an entirely different person. It was that second reflection that worried Akito. It was his face down to every detail, but it wasn't him. The second reflection was smiling and cocked its head slightly to the side.  
  
"Who are you?" Akito asked. He knew the voice of the reflection, of course. It was the same voice that had plagued him for years upon years. It was the voice that whispered darkly to him in the night and reconfirmed his belief that he was worthless and unloved. It was the voice that had encouraged him to attack Ren and smash the mirror across her face.  
  
The second reflection grinned, tilting its head just far enough forward to cast dark shadows under its eyes. I'm you. I always have been, you know that.  
  
"Go away." Akito wrapped his arms around himself and suddenly felt very cold. He'd never seen the face of the voice in his mind before and now he didn't like it. He'd almost gotten used to the ugly, hateful voice telling him what to do. Now, he was seeing things, though. "Just leave."  
  
Oh, I couldn't do that. The second reflection shook its head. I told you, long ago. I'll never leave you. We're apart of each other. Then, the second reflection did something that frightened Akito so badly that he let out a scream. It touched him, resting one hand on his shoulder, and Akito felt the touch as if it were any real, solid person laying their hands on him. Akito screamed at the top of his lungs, but he could hear the voice laughing at him even over his screams.  
  
"Akito!" Kureno, who constantly stood guard close to Akito, burst into the room and threw the doors open. He rushed to Akito's side, but said nothing when he saw that Akito was unharmed. He didn't even say a word when Akito threw himself into Kureno's arms and clutched Kureno as if his life depended on it. Kureno was always so calm, so clear headed that nothing ever seemed to bother him.  
  
"He's touched me. Make him stop, Kureno. Please...don't let him touch me. I hate his touch. He isn't real, I know he isn't." Akito couldn't stop his voice from trembling or his heart from beating so rapidly that it felt as if it would burst from his chest. Everyone said he would go insane and Akito knew it was true when he was a child and started hearing the voice no one else could hear. Was this it? He thought the voice would do nothing but talk to him, but maybe it was going to get worse. How bad was it going to be? Akito pointed a shaking finger at the mirror where his redundant reflection still laughed mockingly.  
  
Are you really so stupid? What am I saying? Of course you are. He can't see me. I'm not real for him, only you. Do you think he'll protect you from yourself? That's a bit silly, isn't it? You're God. You're the one who's supposed to protect him.  
  
The reflection seemed to be telling the truth as Kureno just looked blankly at Akito. "Touched you? Has someone been in here?" He looked around at the empty room. "I didn't hear any other voices..."  
  
Akito knew it was hopeless. "I-I want to go outside, Kureno." Akito said shakily, desperate to go somewhere away from the mirror. "I need to go outside. Fresh air and my birds, that's what I need."  
  
"Yes, Akito." Kureno, with his gentle touch, helped guide Akito into the garden and away from the hated mirror. There was a door that led directly out to Akito's magnificent garden. It was convenient because there were some days that Akito was to weak to even get out of bed, so the doors could be opened easily to let in fresh air.  
  
The voice from the mirror called after Akito, with a laugh in its voice. Running away? Go ahead, run away! Coward! You can't even face the demons of your own family, why should you face the one you keep locked within yourself! Do you remember that story Shigure read to you? I'm mad. You're mad. We're all mad here! It laughed hysterically until Akito and Kureno stepped over the threshold of the door and onto the porch.  
  
The garden was quiet and Akito was grateful. He let Kureno guide him to a large stone bench near the outer wall of his garden and eased him down. This was one big reason why Akito kept Kureno so close. He knew Kureno wouldn't ask questions and that he would stay as close as Akito needed him. He felt safer with Kureno around, especially now when everyone in the family seemed drawn to THAT girl, that Honda girl. They'd all gone to meet her at least once, all but Kureno who'd obediently stayed away from her.  
  
Akito hated her. As much as he'd ever hated anyone, Akito hated Honda Tohru. She was so cheerful. As petty a reason as that might be, Akito hated her smile. For the simple reason that when Honda smiled, he couldn't tell if she was being honest or not. He was so used to knowing what his family was thinking and feeling, just from their expressions, that he disliked Honda's eternally happy smile. It made him nervous that she might do things that involved his family and he couldn't do anything about it. He could tell Hatori to steal her memory of the family, but that would do no good. The family would still care about her and they would see his fear of her as a weakness, a failing. The solution that had worked so well in the past wouldn't work in this case. He would have to think of something else.  
  
"Kureno, hold me." Akito barely thought about the order and he turned to lean into Kureno's arms that were open and waiting for him. Akito relaxed almost as soon as Kureno wrapped his arms around him, but his mind was busy on other thoughts. He felt safe in Kureno's arms, safe enough to lower his guard. "I have to do something about her." Akito said, speaking out loud. "She's causing to much trouble."  
  
Kureno said nothing. Akito didn't care. He knew Kureno would never betray his confidence. Ever since Akito had bought his older cousin, years ago, Kureno had shown himself to be unwaveringly loyal. He never questioned Akito's orders and never tried to leave him, not like the others. Lately, there were so many people who were trying to leave him. That stupid Kyou, being so insolent as to demand a request and trying to bargain for his freedom. Of course, Kyou would never win the bet, Yuki was far superior in everything. He was smarter, more graceful, more beautiful, and he was certainly a better fighter. Those lessons with Kazuma had been a good idea for Yuki, upon reflection. When Akito visited Yuki at school not long ago, he'd looked far healthier, just like Shigure had promised.  
  
'I should tell him how grateful I am that he's taking care of Yuki. He took care of Kisa when she went to stay with him for those few days. Shigure's so clever.'  
  
Grateful? Grateful that he's encouraging your family to leave you? And you love him so well. How foolish. Shigure is clever, but you shouldn't trust him.  
  
Hearing the voice return, Akito cuddled into Kureno's chest, as if he would find safety within the arms of his protector. How could he find safety from his own mind? 'I do trust him, now shut up. I'm the head of the family, I'm God. You can't question my decisions and I decided to let Yuki live with Shigure.' Akito didn't speak out loud, not with Kureno around to hear.  
  
Ah, yes, and what a good choice that was. The voice went on mockingly. Not only did he let Yuki attend a public school, but now he's becoming so involved with that girl. Not only Yuki, but that girl.  
  
'You never said anything bad about Shigure before now.' Akito disliked change and anything that involved Shigure concerned him deeply. 'You were as upset as I was when he ran away from home. Why don't you like him now?'  
  
He's allowing that girl to live with him. He's letting her get to close to the family.  
  
'I don't like her.' Akito thought. 'She's...not right.' Akito turned his head slightly to follow the flight of a bird as it swooped over the high wall of his garden and vanished into the nearby forest. He waited. Waited. Waited. The bird flew back over the wall and Akito let out a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding. 'It came back. I was afraid...'  
  
The voice in Akito's head, thankfully, didn't respond. It had been getting louder, of late. Akito was no longer hearing just a whisper in the darkness of his mind. The voice came in loud and clear. Sometimes, it felt as if the person speaking were sitting right next to him, but whenever Akito turned to look at the speaker, no one was there.  
  
Akito let his hand rise up and brush against Kureno's chest. He wore no shirt, despite the cool air, and Akito ran his fingers over the now faint scar on Kureno's chest. "I'm glad Hatori took it off." Akito said, tracing the outer edge of the ugly scar on his rooster's chest where the tattoo had once been. "Ugly...ugly. I hate my family being marred. They nearly ruined you, Kureno. Ugly scorpion. They had no right to mark you." Laser surgery had been the only way to remove the ugly black tattoo that those barbarians had carved onto Kureno's chest.  
  
"I belonged to them." Kureno spoke softly, for the first time in nearly an hour. "They could do what they liked to me. It was their right."  
  
"Only I have that right." Akito's voice hardened. "Did it hurt? I imagine it must have. Hatori told me they do tattoos with needles and ink. That doesn't sound nice."  
  
Kureno leaned his head down until his cheek rested against Akito's head. "It was a long time ago. It doesn't matter anymore." It was at times like this that Kureno reminded Akito of Shigure. That was one of the reasons Akito liked to have Kureno close to him. If he couldn't have Shigure, then he could at least have Kureno.  
  
"You really don't care? I can destroy them, if you want me to." He had thought of doing it before, but had never really gotten around to it. It hurt his pride that someone had treated one of his family so badly and that they'd marked Kureno as if he belonged to them, but, since he'd gotten Kureno back, he had little interest in them. It was hard for Akito to care about anything that didn't directly affect his Junikyu. "I will destroy them, if it makes you happy."  
  
"No." Kureno shook his head. "That's in the past. I don't care about them, anymore. I'm yours now."  
  
Akito didn't smile. He knew Kureno belonged to him, but he didn't like the way Kureno said it. Kureno made it sound like he was a slave, as if he wouldn't be with Akito if Akito hadn't bought him. If Akito hadn't paid for Kureno, would Kureno even care about him? "Why did they mark you? It wasn't even a very nice picture."  
  
Kureno looked down at his lap and looked uncomfortable. "I was being trained. The tattoo was a...brand. I was being trained for a purpose."  
  
"I saw how well you fought."  
  
"Not just that. You saw me kill. It's not hard, you know. Very easy, really. They were training me so they could sell me. Do you remember the auction? When so many people wanted to buy me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"One of them...he had an arrangement with the owners of the Pit. Any of the children who showed special promise in killing would be marked with a black scorpion tattoo. That's how they distinguished whom their agents should buy when they came to watch the fights. I'd taken my shirt off, remember? The auction was a spur of the moment idea. Usually, the children with the black scorpion tattoo were just taken away and never seen again. I was lucky."  
  
"Use you? As a killer?" This disturbed Akito. He remembered the man he'd sat next to in the Pits and how eager the man had seemed to get his hands on Kureno. As a man, looking back on it all, Akito could see that the man had lusted after Kureno, but he'd also commented on his fighting and his willingness to kill. Akito hadn't liked that man.  
  
"I suppose so."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"I don't know. I think you spoiled their plans, though." He gave Akito a rare smile. "They couldn't match your bid."  
  
Much to Kureno's surprise, Akito told him, in an off handled manner, "You should go into town." Akito felt a warm happiness bubble up inside him when Kureno stared at him in disbelief. He so rarely go a day away from the estate that it must be something of a shock. Akito liked being able to please his family when he could and this small thing he could do for Kureno. "You would like a day in the city, wouldn't you? To get out of these walls?" Akito reached up a hand and touched the ancient walls. "Get out of this prison. I want you to find me a story, Kureno. Shigure always told me stories, but he hasn't been by for a long while. Find me a story of something happening in the city."  
  
"Are you sure?" Kureno asked, still looking puzzled as he pulled a suit of clothes out for Akito. It was one of the little duties that Kureno seemed happy enough to preform, the role of a manservant. It wasn't necessary. There were more than enough servants who would have felt honored to wait hand and foot on the head of the Souma family. Yet Kureno happily set out Akito's clothes and poured his tea as if nothing more in his life mattered. "I won't leave you if you need me." No doubt Kureno's mind was still on Akito's screaming fit when the reflection's hand had touched his shoulder.  
  
"I'm sure. I need some rest, so I'll just rest out here. Hatori says I need more sun, anyway. Go on." He waved at Kureno, encouraging him to get up. "I want a story, so find me something interesting."  
  
Kureno swallowed hard before he bowed. "Yes, Akito."  
  
"Be back before dark, though." Akito called after Kureno. "You know I can't sleep without you."  
  
A short time later, Akito found himself wandering the estate. He really didn't know where he was going, but he liked walking around. He passed by many people who greeted him politely, but Akito paid them little attention. He wasn't interested in them. He stopped walking when he saw someone that did interest him. He saw Hatsuharu's duel colored hair and Akito smiled. He hadn't spoken with Hatsuharu for a while and it would be nice to...  
  
'What's she doing with him?' Akito frowned at a slender figure of a girl with long, slinky hair walking very closely with Hatsuharu. In fact, they were holding hands. 'Ren? No...Ren's gone. That must be Rin.' Akito had never liked Rin, not since she'd let her hair grow long and she started to look more and more like Ren. Not only did Rin look like a very young Ren, undamaged by Akito's mirror, but their names were so similar. 'Maybe I should make her change her name.'  
  
Akito had seen Rin and Hatsuharu together many times before, but he'd never seen them holding hands. He'd seen them dancing together at the banquet, but everyone danced with everyone at the banquet. This was different. They were going into the bathhouse...alone. The bathhouse was quite large, three stories, though the top two floors were nothing more than storage. Akito followed his people through the building and up to the topmost floor where they must have thought they would find privacy.  
  
The first thing they did was to start kissing and Akito watched with more than a little discomfort. Normally, he had no problems with his family's relationships, but this was to odd. It looked like, from Akito's viewpoint, that Hatsuharu was kissing Ren. Worse, Akito was suddenly reminded of Yahiko who also had black and white hair and the image of him kissing Ren was almost enough to make Akito vomit.  
  
"Shigure knows the secret." Rin whispered to Hatsuharu when they both broke the kiss to come up for air. They stood together on the upper floor on Akito's home, standing so closely together that there wasn't a bit of space between them. Rin kept her arms wrapped around Hatsuharu's narrow waist and practically breathed her words into Hatsuharu's neck. "I found this book he had a while ago. He SAID it was something he was writing, but he was lying. It wasn't his handwriting and the paper was centuries old. He's hiding the secret of the curse."  
  
Akito felt a building fury within him. How dare Rin suggest such a thing? Shigure would never keep a secret like that without telling Akito and the rest of the family. If there was one person in the entire family that Akito trusted above everyone else, it was Shigure. Akito was absolutely certain that  
  
Shigure would never hide any kind of secret from him, let alone a secret that could save their family.  
  
"Why?" Hatsuharu asked. His arms were around her, holding her close as they stood together in an easy embrace. "Why would Shigure lie about the curse? He hates it as much as the rest of us. It doesn't make any sense, Rin. Maybe he's telling the truth. Maybe it is just for a book. Shigure usually has a reason for what he does, even if he won't tell us the reason. There would be no reason for him to hide this book."  
  
"Shigure likes lying." Rin said bitterly, shifting herself to fit more comfortable into Hatsuharu's arms. "He's always lying about something, so why not this? He knows the secret to ending the curse. I'm sure he does. I'll get it out of him if it's the last thing I do."  
  
"Rin," Hatsuharu's arms tightened a bit, making Rin look up at him. "Don't do anything stupid. You don't KNOW Shigure's doing anything, you only THINK he is."  
  
"I'm right!"  
  
"Maybe. Maybe not." Hatsuharu shrugged lazily, his eyes almost closed as he relaxed, sitting down on the windowsill and pulling Rin into his lap. "This might be a misunderstanding. Shigure's a...complex man. He wouldn't hurt the family, though."  
  
"Have you ever thought that maybe Shigure is just as crazy as the rest of us?" Rin asked, sarcastically. "He certainly acts as like he hasn't got a brain in his head."  
  
From where he watched and listened, Akito felt his anger at Rin growing. Rin...Ren. They were to alike. Ren had long, slinky hair like Rin. Now Rin was trying to convince Hatsuharu that Shigure was doing something wrong. Shigure would never hurt the family. Akito's hands balled into fists and his eyes narrowed. 'Why are women always trying to hurt my family? Ren, Momiji's mother, Yuki's foster mother, Kyou's mother, Kana, and now Rin.' They were all out to hurt the family, but this was even worse. This was a betrayal. Rin was one of them, after all. Woman or not, Rin was Junikyu. How could she be trying to turn the family against itself?  
  
She's just like the rest of them. Girls...women...they're all bad. All terrible people. None of the men ever try to hurt the family. Kyou's the monster, but he never tries to hurt us. He likes to fight with Yuki, but he never REALLY tries to hurt him. She should have been born a boy. It would be better if all Souma's were men, men never try to hurt our family. The voice returned in full force and Akito felt as if someone were yelling in his ears.  
  
Akito began to back away, trying to get away from Rin and Hatsuharu. He want to go somewhere quiet and think for a while. He wanted to talk to Shigure. The mysterious voice in his head had plagued him for years now, but he was never sure when the voice was lying to him or not. Sometimes the voice told him to do bad things, but sometimes it was right. 'Rin's part of my family.' Akito told himself. 'Even if she is a sneaky, deceptive girl. She's family.'  
  
So what? Even if she dies, the horse will be reborn. She doesn't matter. If you let her live, she'll hurt the others. Girls are nothing but trouble.  
  
'But boys can be trouble, too. What about Ristu's father and Yuki's foster father? I had to make them go away and Hatori had to steal their memories. They hurt my Junikyu, too.'  
  
That's only two. There are more women than men who want to hurt the family. You have to keep the family safe. Maybe Rin needs to be taught a lesson. You don't have to really hurt her, just scare her a little. Make her remember who God is.  
  
'I...I want to hurt her.' The realization came to Akito and he didn't like it. He'd never wanted to hurt one of his Junikyu, it just sort of happened. Now, seeing Rin lounging on Hatsuharu like she owned him. 'She doesn't own him, I do. She's telling lies and she's just going to confuse Hatsuharu. I want to make her hurt.'  
  
Then do it. The voice whispered, seductively. You don't have to really hurt her, just a little bit.  
  
Hatsuharu stood up and spoke. "Look, I'm going Rin. I've got some homework to finish, but promise me you won't do anything stupid." Hatsuharu eased Rin to her feet, though he still kept his arms around her as if he couldn't bear to be parted. "For us, don't make trouble. I couldn't take it if something happened to you."  
  
"I'm a big girl." Rin gave Hatsuharu a soft smile as she reached up and put one of her long, graceful hands on Hatsuharu's cheek. "I can take care of myself."  
  
Hatsuharu leaned his cheek into Rin's hand and smiled back and, for just an instant, he looked so peacefully happy. "I know you can. I just hope you will. I worry."  
  
"You can be real sweet sometimes, know that?"  
  
Hatsuharu left and Rin was left alone for a time. She stood there, silhouetted against the setting sun with her long, slinky black hair waving as the breeze blew against her and Shigure hated her for speaking badly about Shigure. He wanted to kill her.  
  
Rin turned, after Hatsuharu had gone, and put both hands on the window as she gazed out.  
  
Just a little push. The voice told Akito. She's not even looking. She needs a scare and we both know it. You don't like the way she's treating family, so she must learn to be more respectful. What if she ends up like Ren and starts hurting people? You can't allow that.  
  
'No,' Akito agreed as he stepped from where he'd watched Hatsuharu and Rin and walked closer to Rin. 'Can't allow that. Can't let her hurt people. She's doing a terrible thing, saying those things about Shigure. Won't let anyone hurt Shigure. He always took care of me when I was little, so now I'll take care of him.'  
  
Akito pushed.  
  
One sudden shove and Rin gasped when she tumbled out of the window. Her dark hair billowed out around her, as if she were swimming underwater, and her arms and legs splayed out. Akito watched her fall, feeling numb, but pleased. She wouldn't hurt Shigure, now. She fell for what seemed like hours to Akito, but Rin never screamed. Rin hit the ground with a dull thud and her body bounced once before settling limply in the flowers of the garden below. Rin didn't move after one last twitch.   
  
Akito smiled as tears ran down his face. "It had to be done." He said out loud to the now empty room. "I didn't want to do it." Had he killed her? Everyone would be so angry with him, they wouldn't understand.  
  
Hatsuharu must have seen Rin fall and he came running over to her, screaming her name until he slid to a halt next to her and fell to his knees. He was crying and reached out for her several times, but didn't seem to know if he should move her or not. After a moment of panic, Hatsuharu promised Rin that he would be back and he took off running, supposedly for help.  
  
"It had to be done."  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Dear readers:  
  
Kirena: Sorry if you don't like Tohru, but I just had to give her a grand entrance. I sort of agree with Akito about Tohru. Have you ever noticed that she's a little bit to good to be true? Don't worry to much about Shigure. I have a great scene planned for him, but it won't be to painful. Maybe. Yes, Papa D is VERY scary.  
  
Grrl N: Glad you liked the chapter, especially Tohru. It was hard to do her character, surprisingly. About the chapter you said was to hard to read, sorry about that. I send in the wrong copy and that's how it turned out. It's all corrected now.  
  
Merei-chan: Evil Little god of Writing (ElgoW) says hello. :)  
  
Tri: I'm glad you liked Akito's character, he's lots of fun to write. I think he's my second favorite Fruits Basket character right next to Shigure. I hope you enjoy the rest of this story. Glad you liked Ritsu's little talk with Ayame. I always thought that boy needed some serious psychological help, but, then again, so do the rest of the family.  
  
Arin Ross: Happy to please you. That little bit about the stone zodiac things Shigure made was actually just an impulse. It has very little to do with the story except that I noticed them when I was watching the DVD and wondered what he'd done with them. Wow, that last review was a doozy. I'll get the chapters posted as soon as possible, promise.  
  
Ran Mouri: You want Hatori to become jealous? Well, I was thinking about it, but I'm not sure if Hatori would give up his memory of Kana to find another love. He seems pretty well devoted to her. I hope you enjoy the rest as much as you seem to have enjoyed the story so far.  
  
Hypersarcasticinternetaddic: I highly recommend Petshop of Horrors to anyone, it's simply fantastic. Thanks for taking the time to review, I really appreciate it.  
  
Mistress RinRin: I promise I'll update as soon as I can, but I want every chapter to be the best, so it takes about two weeks to update. Sorry about the long delay, but I don't like putting something imperfect up. Sounds like you like the story so far, I hope I live up to your expectations.  
  
Enjen: Of course I'm not mad about your review! Don't be silly :). That's what reviews are for, right? Thanks for the review, I'll try to add a little more action in.  
  
Ayako: I hope you like how it's turning out. Thanks for reviewing the chapter.   
  
Dragonic Ice: (Blush) Come now...you'll make my head swell. Thank you for the lovely compliment.  
  
KyonKyon: I promise I'll update as soon as I have something worth reading. It flatters me that you seem to think highly of my story, I hope the rest is just as good.  
  
Aori Tsuki: Don't worry about not reviewing every chapter, I'm just pleased you wrote in once. Shigure's main love is...no. I won't say. That would spoil the surprise, right? I love crossover stories, so your remark was a grand compliment, thank you!  
  
Mercedes no Inuarai: Wow! Three reviews right in a row, I'm impressed. Thank you. Yep, I think I've plotted out every detail of this story...all but one and I'm working on that. Er...that review about your jaw dropping? That was good...right?  
  
Shadow Cat 17: I'll put the chapters up as soon as possible, you have my word.  
  
There, I hope I answered everyone's reviews and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.  
  
Till next time,  
  
Cousin D 


	15. Blood and Bone

Long Denied  
  
Chapter 15 Blood and Bone  
  
Kyou-  
  
"You mustn't pass the line."  
  
Kyou was dreaming. At least he thought he was dreaming; it felt very real. He was cold and wrapped his arms around himself, but the cold seeped into his bones. He felt as if he were freezing. "I have to get out of here, it's so cold."  
  
"You know what will happen if you pass the line."  
  
The darkness that surrounded Kyou was broken only by the velvet voice that seemed to come from every direction at once and, barely a step away from his feet, was a strand of black and white beads. "My beads?" Kyou followed the strand of beads with his eyes and found that they went in a circle around him. Even in the pitched blackness, Kyou could see the beads easily. It was as if they were lit from within and glowed.  
  
"No." The velvet voice giggled. "MY beads." As Kyou kept his eyes on the beads that encircled him he saw something that made his insides freeze. The black beads slowly changed into dark red. It just looked so wrong to see the one constant in his life change. The bracelet had always been black and white. The velvet voice continued to speak. "My beads, created out of my own body. You should be honored that I would gift such a thing to you."  
  
"I-I don't understand." Kyou felt helpless. He didn't recognize the voice, but he felt sure that he should. If only it was a bit warmer, Kyou could maybe think a little better. "They should be black."  
  
"Tell me, child, what color does blood turn when it has aged?"  
  
"Blood? It turns black."  
  
"Yes. Black What color does bone turn when it has aged?"  
  
"It doesn't change colors. It's always white."  
  
"Blood and bone." The velvet voice sounded very satisfied. "To seal away such power, one must use great power." The voice seemed to come closer, though Kyou could still see no one in the darkness around him. He could see nothing but the beads at his feet, not even when whoever was speaking whispered in his ear and Kyou could feel the person's breath on the side of his face. "Why do you wish to be with them so much? They don't love you."  
  
Kyou winced at the words. He knew who the voice was talking about. "They're my family. If I don't belong with them...I don't belong anywhere." And that thought terrified Kyou more than he wanted to admit, even to himself. He might be the outsider, the freak among the freaks, but at least he had a place in the Souma family. A poor place it might be, but really, where else did he have to go? At least he wasn't entirely alone.  
  
"Ah...but you are mistaken." It seemed that a hand reached out and touched the back of Kyou's neck, but Kyou couldn't take his eyes off the red and white beads at his feet. The touch was like a frozen knife, an icicle that would kill him if it was held to his skin for to long. "You do belong somewhere. You belong with me."  
  
"I don't even know who you are." Kyou hated his voice as it came out in a whimper. He was afraid. Sickeningly afraid of the voice. He shouldn't be afraid, he was strong! His master had always taught him to be strong and brave!  
  
"You simply do not remember, child. Long ago, you were stolen from me." The hand slid around Kyou's neck. "I can give you a home where you will be appreciated for what you are. I can give you purpose and a valuable place." The voice sighed. "You will be the pinnacle of my collection."  
  
Kyou opened his mouth to speak, but he never got the chance. Another voice, sounding exactly like the first, spoke.  
  
"You overstep yourself again, my child."  
  
The deadly cold hand released Kyou's throat. "You!?"  
  
Kyou fell to his knees, safe within the circle of beads, and squeezed his eyes closed and hoping that Yuki would never find out he cried in fear.  
  
"I forgave your last attempt to steal this child. I will not be so merciful a second time. He serves a purpose."  
  
"YOU HAVE NO PLACE HERE!" The voice screeched furiously. "YOU CAN'T BE HERE! GET OUT! GET OUT!"  
  
"I will have my say, infant." The two voices now paid no attention to Kyou and he was glad for it.  
  
Kyou was shaking now, his cheeks soaked with tears. 'Please,' Kyou thought, 'Please, let me wake up! I can't stand this, I can't! This has to be a nightmare. I swear I'll eat leeks for a month, I'll take Kagura out to the movies, I'll help Tohru with the wash, dammit, I'll even french kiss Yuki...just get me out of here!' He couldn't move. Every muscle in his body felt paralyzed. His throat was clenched tight, suppressing the scream Kyou wanted to let loose. 'Please, please...' A hand touched the top of Kyou's head and he wanted to cringe away from it. 'Don't touch me, I don't want to be touched! Get your fuckin' hands off me!'  
  
"This is not your fight, kitten, nor do you belong here. " The voice was softer, yet colder, and Kyou knew it was the second voice, the one arguing with the first. "Time to leave."  
  
"Kyou? Kyou-kun, wake up."  
  
Hands on his shoulders shook Kyou awake and he woke to see, first Yuki's pale eyes and then Tohru standing right next to Yuki. They both looked worried. Yuki sat on the edge of Kyou's bed and looked puzzled, as if he were seeing Kyou for the first time.  
  
"What...what are you doing here?" Kyou licked his dry lips and winced at the sting. He realized his lips must be bleeding, they were so dry. His throat hurt when he spoke and every part of him hurt.  
  
"What are we doing here?" Yuki echoed, scowling and sat back, away from Kyou a little. "Don't you remember anything?"  
  
"What are you..." He stopped talking when the effort to speak became to much. What was Yuki talking about?  
  
"You were screaming, Kyou-kun." Tohru knelt beside Kyou and took his hand in her tiny ones. "We all woke up when you started screaming and you wouldn't stop." She looked as if she might cry, herself. That wasn't a surprise. Tohru cried when she thought someone else was hurt or in trouble. "You...You'd locked your door so Yuki had to break it." She glanced over her shoulder and Kyou followed her eyes. The door was indeed destroyed, cracked right down the middle with large pieces of wood splintered off and littering the floor. Shigure stood in the hallway, just at the doorway, shadowed in the darkness and silent. "Were you having a nightmare?"  
  
Nightmare? Was that all it had been? If it was just a nightmare, why did his neck still feel cold where the man had touched him? Had he really screamed? How damned embarrassing.  
  
"It sounded like you were being murdered, stupid cat. You scared Honda-san half to death, you know!" Yuki looked at Kyou angrily, but then his expression softened. "It must have been a terrible dream." Kyou used to sleep on the roof of the house, until Shigure had cleaned out one of the unused rooms for Kyou use, and he'd often slept directly over Yuki's bedroom. In the warm months, Yuki slept with his window open and Kyou remembered hearing Yuki cry in his sleep from the nightmares that plagued him. Yuki had nightmares, too.  
  
"You look terrible." Tohru put a hand on Kyou's forehead. "Oh, Kyou-kun, you're burning up and so pale! Maybe you're sick, I should get the thermometer."  
  
Kyou wanted to protested, Tohru shouldn't worry so much, but his throat hurt so badly. Screaming...yeah. He'd screamed himself hoarse. "Not sick. Not much, anyway." Kyou muttered, catching Tohru's wrist before she could run off to mother him. "Just...just want to rest. I'm tired."  
  
Tohru bit her lip, obviously trying to decide what to do. Silly girl always put everyone else first, even when it wasn't necessary. "Well, if you say so..."  
  
Kyou nodded, but hoping they wouldn't leave. It was still dark outside, still night, and Kyou was afraid he'd fall asleep again. The last thing he wanted was to risk a nightmare like that again. He struggled to sit up. "What time is it?" He swallowed hard, hoping to ease the pain in his throat. "Gotta train before school." It was one of Kyou's rituals and comforts, training every morning.  
  
Yuki rolled his eyes. "It's barely past midnight, you don't need to train right now. If you're sick, you need to sleep." Yuki pushed Kyou back down onto his pillow. "Honda-san's right, you don't look well. If you push yourself, not only will you worry Honda-san and make yourself sicker, but you'll risk transforming at school. You should stay home and rest."  
  
A lot had changed between Yuki and Kyou in the passed few days and the note of compassion in Yuki's voice was proof of it. Before that rainy night when Kazuma had forced Kyou's transformation right in front of Tohru, Yuki never would have sat at Kyou's side and done even this little to comfort him. Something had changed between them, but Kyou couldn't say exactly what it was. Yuki had grabbed hold of his arm, even when he knew this was the one time Kyou was stronger and fully able to kill Yuki.   
  
Kyou still felt faintly ill when he thought about that night. He'd wanted to throw up when he saw the horror in Tohru's eyes at his transformation. She was afraid of him, the one person Kyou had never wanted to hurt was afraid of him. She'd been right to be afraid, he'd hurt her even when she'd come to take him home. He'd battered Yuki when Yuki had swallowed his pride and come to take him home. Kyou wouldn't go so far as to say that he and Yuki were anything like friends, but...something had definitely changed between them. Yuki had risked his life against Kyou's monster, and it wasn't for Tohru's sake. She hadn't even asked Yuki to come along, or so Tohru told Kyou later, Yuki had made the choice on his own. He'd risked his life to bring Kyou home. Kyou had hurt them and yet Tohru and Yuki had both wanted him home.  
  
It truly humbled Kyou to know that not only did Tohru care about him enough to fight passed her own fear, but that Yuki was strong enough to get over his arrogance that night. They had both seemed so strong.  
  
So, for once, Kyou didn't try to fight. He lay his head down on his pillow and looked from Tohru to Yuki. "I can't sleep again. I gotta do something."  
  
"Maybe something...a little easier than training?" Tohru suggested. She smiled hopefully at Kyou. "You could help me today? Having you cook probably wouldn't be a good idea, since you aren't feeling well. Maybe...you could uhhh...."  
  
"Study." Shigure spoke up for the first time, stepping into the room with a smile on his face. "The grades on your last exam weren't exactly sterling, Kyou-kun. Maybe studying a little algebra would be good for you. I'll call the school in the morning and make your excuses for you. If you still don't feel well by dawn, I'll call Ha-san and ask him to stop by."  
  
Kyou nodded weakly. His head was starting to throb and his stomach was upset. Being sick obviously brought on the nightmare.  
  
Yuki and Tohru both left, back to their own rooms to sleep down and Kyou was left alone with Shigure. Kyou didn't like being alone with Shigure, he always felt like Shigure was looking at him a little to closely. 'Stupid Shigure...he's so weird.' Kyou rolled over, away from Shigure and stared at the wall while he hoped Shigure would leave him alone. As soon as he was alone, Kyou planned to get up. He would do some exercisers quietly in his room or maybe get a little reading done, but he sure as Hell wasn't going to fall asleep again!  
  
"What was your nightmare about, Kyou?" Shigure asked. The weight on the bed shifted and Kyou knew Shigure had sat next to him.  
  
"Get off my damned bed." Kyou said with as much rancor as he could muster. The nightmare had really worn him out.  
  
"Now, now. Don't be angry." Shigure spoke as if he was amused, but it still struck Kyou as odd that Shigure would hang around. He was normally so lazy that Kyou though Shigure would be the first one to run off back to bed. "I was just curious. It's not like you to wake the whole house, plus more."  
  
"More?" Despite himself, Kyou rolled back over to look at Shigure.  
  
Shigure smiled. "We've got every cat for miles around prowling around the house. They were howling like mad when you were screaming your lungs out."  
  
Kyou imagined the noise and felt guilty. "Sorry." Not only had his screaming woke everyone, but they'd had to listen to cats screeching, never a pleasant noise.  
  
"Don't worry about it." Shigure replied easily. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right. You tend to put on a strong face in front of Yuki and Tohru, but they were right. It's important that you rest."  
  
Kyou looked away, not wanting to lie right to Shigure's face. "I know, I will."  
  
"Good." Shigure patted Kyou's hand as he stood to leave, then paused and frowned at his hand. "Kyou? What happened to your wrist?"  
  
"My..." Kyou raised his hand up and looked at his wrist. All around the bracelet blood stained Kyou's wrist. It was dark and warm, but Kyou knew he hadn't been hurt. It didn't even hurt.  
  
Shigure took hold of Kyou's wrist and brought it up to his face.  
  
"What are you doing?" Kyou tried to pull his hand away from Shigure, but found that he didn't even have the strength to do that.   
  
"Hush." Shigure muttered before he sniffed at Kyou's wrist. When Shigure did release Kyou's hand, he didn't look at all happy. "You don't now how this happened?"  
  
Kyou shook his head. "No." Why would he have blood all over his wrist? His wrist didn't hurt anymore than the rest of his aching body.  
  
There was a moment of silence and Shigure seemed lost in his own thoughts, not even really looking at Kyou. The phone rang suddenly and rudely brought Shigure out of whatever thoughts he was buried in. He was immediately back to his old self and jumped to his feet with a cheery smile. "My, oh my! I wonder who's calling so late at night. Make sure you wash your wrist and then get right back to bed. If you worry Tohru, Yuki won't forgive you." Then he was gone, supposedly to answer the phone.  
  
'Stupid dog.' Kyou thought, watching the door close behind Shigure. 'Stupid, stupid...I wish I could understand him, sometimes.' Still, Kyou did as he was told. He washed his wrist off in the bathroom, carefully making sure all the blood was off the bracelet. As he ran the bracelet under the water, Kyou studied it carefully. One disturbing aspect of the dream bothered Kyou more than anything else and he wanted to make sure the black beads hadn't turned red. It was silly, but Kyou needed the bracelet to stay the same. It was really the only stable thing in his life. Everything else changed. People died or left. Homes and schools changed. Friends never lasted long. The bracelet, though...the bracelet was always the center of Kyou's world. He sighed with relief when he found not a speck of red on the bracelet. 'So much for all that nonsense about blood and bones.' Kyou managed a grin, the first since he'd woken up. 'It was just that, nonsense. A stupid dream and I was stupid to think it was something more.'  
  
Still, if it were nothing more than a stupid dream, where did the blood come from? Kyou watched the dark blood wash down the sink, made paler by the warm water mixed with it and cleaning the bracelet.  
  
'I didn't even get hurt in the dream, so...no. I'm not going to start thinking like that! You don't get hurt in real life if you get hurt in a dream. It wasn't real! I don't know where the blood came from and I don't care. Knowing stupid Shigure, it's probably one of his dumb-ass pranks!' Kyou slowly made his way back to bed, turning off the light as he did. He lay down, trying to forget the blood and the dream and everything else. As soon as he was laying down and covered up, his body still aching and his throat raw, Kyou happened to look up at the only window in his bedroom. What he saw made him whimper and pull the blanket up to his chin, as if that might protect him.  
  
It was a rabbit with bat wings. Two tiny horns protruded from it's head and it stared at Kyou with shining black eyes.  
  
"Oh, God..." Kyou whimpered, knowing that the little thing couldn't be real. It was impossible. "I'm still dreaming. I never woke up."  
  
The little thing squeaked, "Kyu!" before it stretched its wings and fluttered down into Kyou's room. The window had been closed, Kyou was sure of that. It flew directly down to Kyou and landed on the footboard of his bed with its webbed feet, like those of a tiny duck. "Kyu! Kyu!"  
  
Kyou felt his eyes get very heavy and he began to fall asleep. He couldn't hold his head up any longer and he had the terrible feeling that it was all the fault of that little rabbit thing that was still staring at him.  
  
"Yuki." Kyou's call for help sounded pitiful, even to him. "Shigure. Toh...Tohru." No one answered him. Kyou felt like he was drowning when he finally couldn't help himself and closed his eyes and found himself in another dream.  
  
Again, he was in a dark room and, again, he stood in a circle of his black and white beads. The beads seemed to glow with power from within, but that was the only light. It was just like before.  
  
"You need more sunlight."  
  
It was the voice again, but Kyou couldn't be sure which voice from before. Was it the first voice that yelled and screamed or was it the second that had told him to wake up? The darkness around Kyou moved and he focused on the movement. It stayed just out of his sight for a moment before moving close enough that the glow from the bracelet allowed Kyou to see him.   
  
"Who are you?" Kyou asked. The person was dressed in a billowing cloak, hooded to shadow his face. Kyou was sure the person was a man, even though he wore dark lipstick, because of his deep voice. Men wearing lipstick wasn't really all that odd. After all, Ritsu wore lipstick and so did Ayame. Kyou had even seen Shigure wearing lipstick once, though that was from a bet he'd lost to Ayame. "Were you in my dream before?"  
  
The cloaked person didn't answer, but raised a hand and Kyou saw darkly painted fingernails that were far to long to be practical for anything. As soon as the stranger raised his hand, a window appeared in the darkness. It was a barred window, but a bright light shone in through the bars and cast four narrow rectangles of sunlight on the floor, just a foot in front of the circle of black and white beads.  
  
Kyou repeated himself, determined not be scared this time. "Who are you?"  
  
"It is warmer outside." The stranger held out his hand and put it into the beams of sunlight. "So much warmer than in here. The sun is a vast power."  
  
Kyou shivered and realized that it was just like before. He was getting so cold all of a sudden. "How do I get out?" He was having trouble breathing. The air tasted bad.  
  
"There is fresh air out there, too." The person went on as if he hadn't even heard Kyou.  
  
"I can't breathe." Kyou insisted, one hand clutching at the shirt at his chest as he heaved for breath. "I have to get out!" Was this how Yuki felt when he had an asthma attack?  
  
"Then leave." The man told him carelessly. "It is simple, is it not? Shall I help you?" He waved his hand and the barred window grew until it was the size of a normal door. The bars were widened, so Kyou would have been able to easily squeeze between them to the warm sunlight beyond. "You see? I've done as much as I can. You must take the first step."  
  
Kyou raised his foot, but put it down almost immediately. He was still in the circle of the beads. He couldn't leave, if he did, he'd become the monster again. He'd hurt people. He might kill. Hell, if he'd hurt Tohru, he might kill someone he didn't like. He had to stay in the bracelet.  
  
"Is there a problem?" The cloaked man asked.  
  
"I...I can't."  
  
"Do you not wish to leave?"  
  
"Of course I do!" Kyou answered with more fire than he'd felt since these weird things had started. "I want to leave, I can't stay here! There's nothing for me here!" Kyou felt like his lungs were filled with cotton and the air tasted foul.  
  
"Nothing? That's harsh thing to say. Are we nothing to you?"  
  
At the voice, Kyou turned away from the stranger and but his frustration died at the sight of the previously empty room.  
  
"Nothing?" Akito sneered the word again as he leaned against Kureno and peered at Kyou from under his uneven grey hair. "What are we? Dust beneath your feet?"  
  
Kyou's mouth went dry and his throat froze. When he was able to speak again, Kyou spoke with as much aplomb as he could manage, "You don't want me around, anyway. I can leave if I want to."  
  
"It's not a question of what you or I want." Akito looked up at Kureno and stroked his face gently. "It's a question of where you belong and you belong with us."  
  
"Since when?" Kyou couldn't believe what he was hearing. Akito hated him, always had. He went to great pains to remind Kyou that he wasn't one of the real family. "You're the one that wants me locked up."  
  
Akito moved away from Kureno, and made his way to Kyou. When they were less than a foot from each other, Akito spoke in a near whisper. "You are NOT Junikyu. You never will be, you might as well accept it. The family will never accept the cat, but you ARE a Souma. When you broke your leg falling down that flight of stairs, it was Hatori who took care of you. When your mother killed herself because of you, it was Kazuma who took you in and loved you. When you didn't have a friend in the world, Kagura took your hand. When you needed a home, Shigure gave you one." Akito reached out and touched Kyou's cheek, as he had Kureno, but reared back suddenly and slapped Kyou. "So ungrateful for all we've done for you. The world would kill you. Normal humans would dissect your hideous body to see what kind of monster you are. No matter what you think, you have a family here. How dare you even dream of deserting us?!"  
  
"Would you really leave us?" From behind Akito, Hatsuharu spoke up and Kyou's eyes went to him. "Who would I have to fight, Kyou?" It wasn't just Hatsuharu, but everyone else emerged from the darkness and the dark empty room was filling up with the shadowy figures of the Junikyu. Ayame stood closely to Hatori and Hatori had a hand resting on Momiji's shoulder. Hiro and Kisa held hands while Rin stepped forward to stand by Hatsuharu. The last two to step out of the darkness were Shigure and Yuki.  
  
"Kyou!" Kagura stepped forward but, strangely, didn't launch herself into Kyou's arms. Instead, Kagura stopped next to Akito. "Please, you mustn't leave us!" There were tears in her eyes and Kyou felt immediately guilty. He hated to see Kagura cry. "I know I'm not as gentle or lady-like as you deserve, but I love you. I love you so much I can't stand it. You're the only man I'll ever love. If you leave..." She choked a little on her tears. "If you leave...I think I'd..." Rin took Kagura's hand and quietly pulled her back to stand with the rest of the family.  
  
Everyone stared at Kyou and he felt his resolve start to fade even more. He couldn't leave them. He belonged with his family. It was just like he'd said before. Whether they liked him or not, he belonged with his family.  
  
"Be certain of what you want." The stranger said, a warning tone in his voice. "Do you want your family or your freedom? Perhaps you can not have them both."  
  
"What kind of choice is that? I can't chose between my family and my freedom!" Kyou looked back at his family, down to the beads at his feet, and then at the cloaked stranger. "Who are you?!" Kyou demanded once again. "Why are you doing this? This is just a dream! Leave me alone! There is no escape, there is no way out! I'm stuck like this forever!"  
  
Shigure-  
  
The blood wasn't Kyou's.  
  
"Moshi-Moshi?" Shigure picked up the phone, his mind still on Kyou's odd behavior and the mysterious blood. As a cat, Kyou should have recognized that the blood wasn't his from the smell alone. In fact, Kyou had the second best sense of smell in the entire family, right next to Shigure and the only reason he probably hadn't realized the blood wasn't his was because he was sick and half-asleep. Shigure didn't know if it was just a nightmare that had upset Kyou or if he were really sick, but something was definitely wrong. Not only did the blood not smell like Kyou, it didn't even smell human. Of course, it also didn't smell like any animal that Shigure had ever seen or hunted. So, the big question was, where had the blood come from?  
  
"Good evening, Shigure. I'm sorry to call so late."  
  
"Ha-san!" Shigure smiled, hearing his friend's voice. "What's up? I didn't expect to hear from you, though I'm glad you called. I was going to give you a ring..."  
  
"Shigure, umm..." Hatori's interruption didn't last long and he fell silent. It lasted so long that Shigure prompted him,  
  
"Ha-san? Are you still there?"  
  
"Yes. Forgive me, I'm a bit distracted." He did sound a little odd. Jumpy, almost. "I have an...odd request."  
  
"Well, ask away. You k now I'm your devoted servant." Shigure teased, hoping to ease Hatori's mind a little.  
  
"Could you come to Aya's?"  
  
"What? You're at Aya's?" Shigure's dirty little mind flashed over images of why, exactly, Hatori would be at Aya's shop in the middle of the night and he had to stifle a nosebleed at the pleasant visions. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me any sordid details, are you? Only, I need a new scene for one of my books..."  
  
"Shigure! Get your mind out of the gutter, this is important!"  
  
"I'm listening, don't burst anything."  
  
"Look, just come to Aya's. He's got a few guests and they'll be staying for a while. I need to get your impression of them, one of them in particular."  
  
"I thought you were a pretty good judge of character, Ha-san. What do you need me for?"  
  
"I need your nose."  
  
"Ah. I see." Though he was also puzzled. "You've made me curious. I'll be there as soon as I can, but I need you here. There's something wrong with Kyou and I don't want to leave him alone. He woke up screaming from a nightmare and that just doesn't happen. When he woke up from the nightmare, he had blood all over his wrist, but I couldn't see any wound. He's also got a fever, I think."  
  
Hatori was silent. It was the first time Shigure had ever known Hatori to hesitate about coming to the aide of one of the Junikyu and it worried him. What could be more important to Hatori than the health of his family?   
  
"Ha-san?"  
  
"I'll come, but you must get to Aya's as soon as possible. It's already so late, I don't want him to leave before you get here."  
  
"I'll leave now, I'll only take me a few minutes if I get a hug from Tohru."  
  
"...You be nice to that girl, Shigure." Hatori's tone was dangerous...well, as dangerous as Hatori's voice could get. Shigure knew that Tohru reminded Hatori of Kana and that was one of the big reasons Hatori tried to take care of the girl.  
  
"I'm hurt! Don't you know I'm always nice?"  
  
"Don't push me tonight, Shigure. I'm having a rough night."  
  
After hanging up, Shigure made his way to Tohru's bedroom. 'Forgive me.' Shigure said silently, putting his hand on the doorknob. Tohru probably wouldn't mind and Kyou was sick, but if Yuki happened to find him sneaking into Tohru's room in the middle of the night...well, there would be more than a few lumps in it for him. 'Ah, well, life's nothing without excitement, right?' So Shigure pushed opened the door quietly and crept over to where Tohru was already soundly asleep in her bed.  
  
She really was very cute, even if Shigure STILL hadn't figured out what she was. Definitely female, or the transformation wouldn't have worked. But she wasn't human, so it shouldn't work regardless of sex. After all, Shigure wouldn't transform if he hugged a bitch, nor would Kyou if he hugged a female cat. It only worked with humans, but Tohru wasn't human so...  
  
There was so much to think about! Tohru not being human and the blood on Kyou's wrist that didn't belong to anything known, now Shigure was being called out to smell a stranger and by Hatori of all people! There must have been something remarkable about this person if Hatori thought him unusual enough to ask Shigure to smell him. After all, anyone who looked human, was human. The only people who weren't, were the Junikyu. 'Except for Tohru, I suppose.' That took him back again. Tohru was a great mystery. She'd done so much for the family and Shigure felt that, through her, the family was strengthening. Not as much as Shigure would have liked, but at least Yuki was now strong enough to put his expected hatred for Kyou aside and brave enough to stand up to Akito for Tohru's sake. Kyou was learning to control his temper. Yuki was learning to tolerate Ayame and Hatori was just starting to get over his loss of Kana. None of that changed the fact that Tohru wasn't human.  
  
'I don't have time for this.' Shigure shook his head free of the questions that never lead anywhere but to more questions and took Tohru's hand, hoping that he wouldn't wake her. As gently as he could, he hugged her arm and instantly felt the transformation take affect. As a dog, he could make much better time than if he ran as a human.  
  
Sofu D-  
  
Sofu watched from his secreted place in the child's room. He watched when the boy woke from what he thought was a nightmare and watched while his family soothed him. The rat, a sharp eyed boy who so resembled his ancestor, a nightingale, and a dog. They rat, cat, and dog were all so different from the originals, yet he could see what they were supposed to be. Of course, he was surprised when he saw the nightingale enter, but it wouldn't have been impossible for his grandson to have sold pets here in Japan. The youngest D was here only a few short years ago, though it was a bit of a coincidence that the pet should end up in the hands of the Junikyu.  
  
'I had not thought so many changes would have happened in just a few years.' Sofu thought, saddened by the amount of human blood running through the veins of this once great family. He remembered when it had all started, just a few short years ago.  
  
A few short years. A Kami's notion of a few short years was far different from that of any mortal. The years since the Junikyu had interbred with humans had passed so quickly. Sofu knew his beloved grandson could remember more than four hundred years and his son was well over a thousand years old. In truth, Sofu D hadn't expected his son to reproduce so young in his life. He'd been more than a little surprised when he'd visited his son and found the infant Kami.  
  
In the room of the orange haired cat, the dog, the rat, and the nightingale left the boy alone and Sofu emerged from his hiding place to face the boy again. It was such a pity that this once grand family was so reduced. With human blood in their veins, it was no surprise that their power was nearly nonexistent. How wonderful it would be to restore this family to their greatness of the past, but that was not why Sofu D was here. There was something the cat had that Sofu D wanted.  
  
That bracelet.  
  
The bracelet of blood and bone.  
  
It was necessary that the bracelet be returned to Sofu's grandchild.  
  
Such a pity that Sofu's child had visited the cat first. 'If he hadn't been made so afraid by my child's influence, then it would be far easier." Indeed, the young cat nearly had hysterics when he saw Sofu, as Q-Chan, fly into the room. No mortal is meant to be dragged into the mind of a Kami, which was exactly what Papa D had done. It had been to much for the child's mind and would have broken him if Sofu D hadn't interfered. That was why, when Sofu spoke with the child, he went into the child's mind. It was easier on the child and he would be more likely to listen. Sofu hadn't counted on the child's locality to his family, however. Still, that was one of the strengths of the Junikyu family, their devotion to each other.  
  
It wasn't possible to just take the bracelet. If he did, the poor cat would likely lose his mind. His entire life had been built around the bracelet, and its disappearance would do great injury to the child's mind. Besides all that, Sofu couldn't help but feel more than a little guilty about what had happened to the Junikyu. After all, it was his child who had done this to them.  
  
Sitting on the end of the child's bed, Sofu kept his eyes on the black and white bracelet and thought back to how it had come to be.  
  
Flashback-  
  
It was the last day he would be known as Papa D. It was the day Papa D became Sofu D.  
  
"What have you done!?" Sofu D looked down at the infant in horror. It was...defective.  
  
Its chest had been opened and Sofu D could easily see the infant's innards. It didn't cry, Kami rarely ever cried as animals did when in pain, but it looked soulfully up into Sofu's face. His eyes, gold as his sofu's and purple as his papa's, were filled with pain. His breathing was haggard and, though his body struggled with the instinct nature to recall his blood into his body, it was clear that the infant was not yet old enough to control his body and he was bleeding to death. The child was Kami, no doubt about that, but there had been no care taken in his creation. Normally, reproduction for a Kami was a time consuming, painstaking effort and not lightly done. Great care was taken to create a perfect creature, a replica of the original. This one failed miserable. Its eyes were mismatched, an obvious, visible deformity.  
  
  
  
"There is no need to yell, papa." The younger Kami smiled beatifically, obviously not seeing what the problem was as he stood over the dying body of his own child. There was an expression of great satisfaction on his face. He looked almost smug. "I only needed the raw material. I'll destroy that thing now that I am finished with it."  
  
"You will not." Sofu D bent and lifted his grandson into his arms. "This is your child, my grandson! You will not do anything further to injure him. Deformed or not, he is a Kami. He is my blood as well as yours."  
  
"Papa...?" The long haired Kami gave Sofu D an astonished look. "What are you saying? That thing is no child of mine. I only needed the blood and few bits of bone."  
  
"That was your reason for reproducing?" Sofu D had never felt as if he'd failed so greatly as he had in that moment. Sofu D laid a hand on his grandson's chest and closed the wound for him, in the process he saw what his son had taken from his grandson. He looked at his son, horrified. "What have you done with his blood? What have you done to your own child?"  
  
"It's not really your concern, papa."  
  
But it was not so simple to lie to a Kami. It was nearly impossible to lie to the Kami that was your parent. Sofu could see what his child had done and it made him ill. He saw that his child had taken a unique family and imprisoned them in a drugged sleep. He saw that his child had taken the newborn cat of that family and he saw that his child intended to keep the cat as a pet. That was no terrible thing, acquiring a new pet was one of the greatest joys in a Kami's life. What was horrible was the way he intended to do it. He would keep them drugged and the cat immature.   
  
It was jealously, pure and simple.  
  
They were a powerful family and Sofu's child did not like that. He had never liked the notion of a peoples with so much power over the creatures of Earth. They were not, of course, as powerful as the Kami, but the Junikyu had power in their own right. While the Kami could command the obedience of any creature of Earth, the family of the Junikyu inspired the love of their particular animal. Any and all cats would love the cat. Any and all sheep would love the sheep. They would obey out of love, not compulsion. It was a subtle difference in Count D's eyes, but it was a difference. In all the world not a single creature could rival the power of the Kami except these Junikyu and it was the cat that made it possible. It was the cat that gave the family power.   
  
Sofu would have to put a stop to all this. "If you needed to create this life simply to use it, you should have used your own body." Sofu D began to dislike his own child, his own creation he'd once thought so perfect.  
  
"But I did. Do you not understand, papa? That thing was created out of my own body, therefore it is me. I will destroy it now, it has no more use." Papa D reached out for the infant in Sofu D's arms. "When the time comes, I will create a child you will be proud of. This was not meant to be anything..."  
  
"You will not touch this child again!" Sofu D thundered, allowing his emotions to control him for once. "How dare you cause injury to your own child? This is no creation, no mere thing. This is a Kami!" He glared at his child and was pleased to see the doubt in his child's eyes, the barely hidden fear. "This is your child, but you will not have him. I will never allow you to be alone with him again. You have lost your claim to this child and if you try to reproduce again, before your death, I will take that child from you, also." He was so enraged, he honestly didn't care what the bracelet he'd seen in his child's mind was used for. He would simply have to get it back at some point. It was the body of his grandchild and belonged with the grandchild.  
  
Sofu D knew he could easily kill his child and take the bracelet, but despite what a horrible, thoughtless thing his child had done, Sofu still felt attachment to his child. His child was his greatest creation and he loved his child. He did not wish to kill his own child, no matter how monsterous. "You would condemn your child to a life being less than perfection?"  
  
"That thing is not my child. It is nothing more than spare parts." It was said in such a cold way that Sofu had no choice but to believe it.  
  
The bracelet, the missing part of the infant, would have to be recovered at a later time. The Junikyu, sleeping somewhere within the petshop, would also be dealt with later. First he had to get the infant away from the petshop and safely hidden. Then he would return to release the Junikyu. It would all have to be handled delicately, or the results could be disastrous. If a battle were to break out between Sofu and his son, it would likely destroy the Earth. There was a very good reason why battle between Kami was forbidden.  
  
Sofu knew that he would have to get the child safely away before he was able to help any of the captured Junikyu. If he risked a battle, the sickly infant would be killed. If he tried to free the captured Junikyu before hiding his grandson, the child's papa would kill him. It was Sofu's first responsibility to protect and guard the newest Kami. Then, he would return and try to help the Junikyu. It would have to be done subtly, though. If his child knew what Sofu was going to do, he would likely do something foolish that might end up in the deaths of the most unique family on Earth.  
  
End Flashback-  
  
Now it was time to help the Junikyu. Sofu's grandchild was old enough to keep himself safe and they were close enough to the Junikyu, polluted as their blood was, that it would be a pity NOT to help them. Besides, it looked as if Sofu's child was intent on getting his hands on the cat again, now that he'd finally located the boy.  
  
Sofu was very pleased to see the bracelet on the wrist of the cat was bleeding. That meant that under the dry, black blood on the surface, the blood was still alive and still trying to get back where it belonged. Now that the youngest of the D clan was in the near area, the blood could no doubt feel him nearby. He had been worried that, after so many years, the blood and bone used to make the beads of the bracelet would have died.  
  
Sofu watched while the boy while he toss and turned in the dream Sofu had given him. He would give the boy a choice and, if the boy had the courage to do it, he would save his family. That is, if he wanted to. From what Sofu could see, the boy might not want to save his family.  
  
Hatori-  
  
By the time Hatori got to Shigure's house, it was nearly dawn and Hatori was exhausted. Not only had he driven Ritsu home and then spent most of the evening trying to make polite conversation with an American who obviously disliked him for some reason, a girl trying in vain to fight off Mine-chan's advances, a hyper-active Ayame, and a man who scared the willies out of Hatori, but now he had to make a house call. It was his own fault, he was the one who'd asked Shigure to take a sniff of the stranger who was only known as Count D and Shigure was right to want someone in the house to keep an eye on Kyou. The house was still and dark, showing that no one was awake, yet, and Hatori was grateful for it. The last thing he wanted was to have to explain to the children why, exactly, he'd had to call Shigure away from the house.  
  
There was no point in waking anyone, so Hatori quietly made his way though the house to the room Kyou now used with his black bag in hand. Once at the door, Hatori knocked softly, though he really didn't expect an answer. If Kyou was as sick as Shigure seemed to think he was, the boy had probably fallen back asleep. "Kyou? Are you awake?" There was no answer, so Hatori opened the door and let himself in. The room was dark, but for a shaft of moonlight that shone in through Kyou's open window and onto Kyou's face. Even in the darkness, Kyou didn't look well. He was sweating, and that was a good sign. People normally didn't sweat if they had a fever. Kyou moaned in his sleep and his hands gripped the blankets covering him very tightly.  
  
'I may as well just let him sleep.' Hatori closed the door behind him and settled himself into a chair next to Kyou's bed. Kyou didn't wake up, not even when Hatori turned on the light and took Kyou's temperature. Kyou flinched slightly when Hatori gave him an injection of medicine, but otherwise didn't acknowledge Hatori's presence. It was strange. Kyou normally would have been wide awake the moment someone had walked into the house, he was that alert. That he could sleep through Hatori's ministrations so easily was a sure sign of how sick hew as. Kyou didn't simply get sick, he was extremely healthy, probably due to his active lifestyle. That he would suddenly fall sick enough to make Shigure worry, worried Hatori.  
  
"Leave me..." Kyou muttered in his sleep. "Leave me alone." He started shaking in his sleep, trembling all over.  
  
It was disturbing, to see Kyou shake like...well...like a frightened kitten. "It's all right, Kyou. You're safe." Hatori took Kyou's hand and held it, hoping that it would do something to reassure the boy. "No one's going to hurt you." He remembered a fever that Momiji had suffered though and felt a pang of fear. Momiji wasn't as strong as Kyou and the fever had taken a great toll on Momiji's little body; it had nearly killed him. Hatori's brain knew that Kyou was in no real danger, but he couldn't help but associate any fever with those few days he sat by Momiji's side and waited for the hare to wake up. He'd never felt so helpless when none of his medicines could do anything to stop the fever. When Kyou settled, Hatori turned the light back off and simply waited. There was little else he could do.  
  
It was when he turned the light off that Hatori saw it. It was a sharp, fast movement that caught the attention of Hatori's one good eye. He wasn't sure what he saw, but he saw a small animal fly out Kyou's window. Something with bat-like wings.  
  
"What...?"  
  
"Hatori?" Kyou was awake all of a sudden and looked at Hatori with bloodshot eyes. "What are you doing here?" He was still shaking uncontrollably.  
  
"Shigure asked me to see you." Hatori replied quietly. "How are you feeling?"  
  
Kyou didn't answer with his usual flippant or rude remark. "I'm still cold. Why can't I warm up?" His voice sounded small. "I need to leave."  
  
"Leave? Don't be foolish!" Hatori pulled the blankets up a little closer to Kyou's chin. "You're cold because you caught a fever, you'll be better soon."  
  
"You don't understand."  
  
"I understand that you need to sleep." Hatori put the animal that had flown out of Kyou's room out of his mind. It wasn't important, so long as he could make Kyou well. He had more than one worry and couldn't afford to think about a bat living in Kyou's bedroom. Not only was Kyou sick, but he would have to find out where that mysterious Count D lived and take his memory. No matter who or what Count D was, he knew about Ritsu, somehow, and that could not allowed to continue. Hatori would do what he always did and ensure the safety of the family by taking Count D's memory. Even if he was afraid to look at those mismatched eyes.  
  
"Hatori?"  
  
"Yes, Kyou?"  
  
"Are dreams real?"  
  
It must have been the fever speaking, Kyou normally wouldn't ask such a question. "Have you been having dreams?" Hatori smoothed Kyou's hair away from his forehead. Kyou looked so young, more helpless than he'd looked since he was a small child, hiding in the darkness of his mother's house.  
  
"Weird dreams. Scary dreams." Kyou's fingers closed around Hatori's and a desperate look came into his eyes. "Please, don't let me fall asleep again. I'll do anything, just don't let me sleep again."  
  
"Hush." Hatori soothed. "You don't have to sleep, just rest." He knew Kyou would eventually fall back to sleep, given the darkness and his exhaustion. From the look of him, Kyou had slept, but not peacefully. Hatori hoped that Shigure returned soon with news of the stranger, Count D. With luck, it would be after Yuki and Tohru went to school, though. There was no need to worry the children.  
  
At Ayame's-  
  
Shigure was very glad he'd thought to carry his clothes with him. Not that he'd be terribly embarrassed to run around town bare, but it wouldn't be good for the Souma family name. In the middle of the night, it was unlikely that anyone would have seen him and Ayame would have gladly lend Shigure some clothes, but Hatori would have been very unhappy if Shigure had been arrested for running naked through the streets of Tokyo and hadn't been able to get to Ayame's shop.  
  
He pulled open the front door of Ayame's tailoring shop, seeing no need to knock since Ayame was used to him coming and going any time he pleased, and made his way to the back room. It was more like a sitting room than a work space. Set out with comfortable chairs and two couches, a radio and a large fish tank, it was a very nice place to work. The first thing he saw was Mine-chan, Ayame's charming assistant, trying very had to sit on a young woman's lap. The young woman was a few years older than Mine-chan, perhaps twenty three or twenty four years old, and had eyes full of fire even as Mine-chan smiled sweetly at her.   
  
"Don't touch my fuckin' gun!!!"  
  
"Awww...but it's not very pretty." Mine-chan cooed. She reached up and touched one of the young woman's freckled cheeks with a look of adoration in her eyes. "You'd look so much cuter with a puppy in your arms." It seemed that Mine-chan had found yet another victim and Shigure was pleased for her. She was a sweet girl and deserved a bit of fun. "Please, let me help you into something more comfortable. I have a lovely green gown that would fit you beautifully..."  
  
"I'm allergic to dogs and I don't wear dresses, now leave me alone!" The unfamiliar young woman had her arms cross over her chest and was glaring angrily at Mine-chan. Mine-chan was, as usually, dressed in one of her own creations. This time, she was in her favorite nurses' uniform, the one with the skirt that was barely more than a belt and white stiletto heels. She wore the complete uniform, even the little hat, which told Shigure that she'd dressed up especially for this visit. Maybe this was more than just a bit of fun for Mine-chan.  
  
"Come on, Jill-chan. At least let me hold your gun, I've never even touched one before." Mine-chan's voice turned deep and throaty and she looked at the young woman, Jill, with eyes that were more than a little seductive. "Please, just once...let me touch IT." Leave it to Mine-chan to make something completely innocent sound so dirty. Shigure thought he might like to use that line in his next novel.  
  
  
  
Jill blushed dark red and didn't answer. Instead, she turned to look at a blonde haired man who sat with Ayame on the couch. "Leon! Aren't you going to help me out here?!"  
  
Leon leered back. "Are you joking? After all the crap I took from you about my own love life? Hell, I think I'd like to see you in some hot woman on wom..." He was hit in the face by a pillow.  
  
"You've got a filthy mind, Orcot!" Jill yelled as she kept trying to fight off Mine-chan.  
  
"Now that's the pot calling the kettle black." Leon laughed. "I ain't helping you anymore than you helped me!"  
  
Just then, Mine-chan apparently grew impatient with the fighting game. She stood up and put both hands on Jill's shoulders. Jill was to stunned to move or protest and just sat there with he mouth half opened before Mine-chan leaned in and kissed her soundly on the lips. Mine-chan ended the kiss by turning around and dashing up the stairs that led to the apartments upstairs, giggling like a schoolgirl the whole way.  
  
For a moment, Jill just sat there, her eyes wide with shock. Then, with a growl, Jill jumped to her feet and charged after where Mine-chan had gone. "I'LL KILL HER!" Then, they were both gone and Shigure silently congratulated Mine-chan. It was nice to see her get what she wanted and there was no doubt that it was Jill that Mine-chan wanted. It would be interesting to see what happened now that Mine-chan had gotten Jill where she wanted her, upstairs in the bedrooms. Jill's voice floated down the stairs. "Come back here you twit!"  
  
  
  
Ayame's eyes lit up the moment he noticed Shigure. "'Gure!" He cried and jumped up to give Shigure a hug. "What a nice surprise! What brings you here?"  
  
Shigure kept smiling, though he was confused. This meant that Hatori hadn't told Ayame that he'd asked Shigure to come over. That, in itself, was odd. "Oh, I just thought I'd stop by. I was in the area."  
  
"At this time of night?" The blonde man spoke up and looked at Shigure suspiciously. "You go running around town in the dead of night?" His Japanese was a little hesitant, marking him as a foreigner.  
  
"You'd be surprised what I get up to in the dead of night." Shigure winked at the blonde man and was rewarded with a horrified blush. "Awww, how cute." Shigure laughed. "You're shy!"  
  
"Damn, Aya, what kind of friends do you have? First that cold bastard now this freak?" He nearly sneered with disgust.  
  
"'Gure-san's not a freak, Leon!" Ayame protested. He pranced back to the couch and sat next to Leon, patting Leon's knee affectionately as he sat. "He's my dear, sweet cousin. You give him a chance and you'll like him. Besides, 'Tori's not cold. You just don't know him well enough, yet."  
  
"Humph! Not sure I want to know him. I know the way he treats you and you deserve better!"  
  
Shigure had the distinct feeling he'd walked in at a bad time. "So," he said in an effort to change the conversation. "You're the famous Leon I've heard so much about?" From then on, the conversation turned more friendly and Shigure learned all about what was going on. He'd known that Ayame's penpal was coming from American, though no one hadn't expected he'd bring his coworker. He learned that Leon had met up with a friend, unexpectedly, when he arrived at the airport and that the friend had opened a pet store not far from Ayame's. Leon commented that he wasn't sure where the petshop was, yet, but that he would find out in the morning. However, he didn't learn what had made Hatori so upset that he would ask Shigure to come over.  
  
"Would you mind stopping by the estate, 'Gure?" Ayame asked later when Shigure was getting ready to leave. He excused himself from Leon and walked with Shigure into the front room so they could speak quietly. Ayame put his arms around Shigure and held him closely. "I think something's bothering 'Tori, but he wouldn't say anything to me. He took Ritsu home and then came back here, but he was very quiet. Even quieter than he normally is. I'm really worried, 'Gure."  
  
Shigure liked the feeling of Ayame's body against his. It was familiar and comfortable, so he held Ayame. "Was it something to do with Leon? He didn't seem to fond of Ha-san just now." Ayame loved Hatori more than anyone else and it would hurt him deeply if his friend didn't like Hatori.  
  
Ayame flushed. "Well, I may have mentioned just a little something about 'Tori in my letters to Leon and...it's not my fault...I'd never do anything to make 'Tori look bad...but..." He sighed and looked terribly guiltily. "Leon seems to have gotten the idea that 'Tori's been leading me on for years and that he's just playing with my emotions. I didn't mean for him to get that impression, honest..."  
  
A woman's voice screamed, from upstairs, "What the Hell do you think you're doing?!"  
  
Ayame smiled at the scream. "Mine-chan is very fond of Leon's friend, Jill. Mine-chan tried to get Jill to dress up, but Jill refused. She said she didn't like dressing up like a doll. I think Mine-chan was a little unhappy about that, so she had to find another way to get attention from her. I hope they get on well, Mine-chan's been lonely without anyone to dress up."  
  
Shigure wanted to get home, to see how Kyou was faring, but he still had business to wrap up for Hatori. "Has there been anyone else here, Aya?" Shigure asked, putting one hand on the top of Ayame's beautiful white hair. Hatori had hinted that one of the guests was unusual and that he wanted Shigure to smell him out. Jill was a regular woman and Leon smelled like a normal man. Nothing to be suspicious about. Hatori wouldn't have gotten upset over someone who might dislike him, there were lots of people who didn't like Hatori on first meeting. He was a hard man to like, but Hatori knew that and made allowances. Normally, he didn't care what other people thought of him.  
  
"Oh, yes, but he left just after 'Tori did."  
  
"Do you know where he is?"  
  
Ayame frowned. "Why so curious? I don't know where his shop is, I didn't bother to ask. He's Leon's friend, Count D. He said he had to get back to his shop, as he'd left Leon's brother in the care of a nanny and wanted to get back."  
  
The true horror of what Ayame had said didn't strike Shigure until after he'd left Ayame's shop and when it did, his eyes widened in horror. His hands began to shake and he was so afraid that he felt like he was going to throw up.   
  
D.  
  
Count D.  
  
Shigure could only vocalize his emotions in two words. "Oh, shit."  
  
To be continued...  
  
Next chapter: Hon Ron makes an appearance.  
  
Evil Little god of Writing: Hee, hee. I told you I'd picked someone to play with.  
  
Little Demoness: You just HAD to do that to poor Kyou, didn't you? Hasn't that darling kitten suffered enough in the actual manga?  
  
Evil Little god of Writing: No, he hasn't. What a silly question to ask. Besides, you wouldn't let me have Shigure, so it's your fault Kyou gets a few nightmares.  
  
Little Demoness: A few nightmares? That's a mild way to put it. You only made him question his entire existence and his lifelong dream of being accepted by his family. Then his own subconscious gets him confused about whether he wants to escape the bracelet. By the way, did Cousin D tell you the big secret of the bracelet?  
  
Evil Little god of Writing: Only that it's made from the body of a Kami, Count D to be specific. Why? What have you been told?  
  
Little Demoness: Ha! I know something you don't know!  
  
Evil Little god of Writing: Awww! Come on, tell me!  
  
Little Demoness: No way, you'll have to wait, just like the readers.  
  
Till next time 


	16. Hon Ron

Author's Note: Dear Readers, just a note, in case some of you missed it. Little Chris Orcot can not speak. He was traumatized and lost his power to speak just before he came to live with Leon. Therefore, whatever Chris 'says' is telepathy and will be indicated by this . The animals, Count D, and Leon can all 'hear' Chris, but no one else.  
  
  
  
Onto the story!  
  
Long Denied  
  
Chapter 16: Hon Ron  
  
Papa D-  
  
'I almost had him, my darling cat! How dare he interfere, invading my mind as if I were nothing more than one of those lowly humans!' Papa D, the father of the current Count D, sat in his home, seething. Unlike his child, papa D was not exactly fond of humans. They were vile, painful creatures. Papa D couldn't stand them. He knew what his father had done to him, he'd done it to humans and other animals often enough. 'Treating me as if I were nothing! That cat is MINE!' Papa D reclined on his sofa, wishing he could get back into the cat's mind but knowing his father would never allow it.  
  
He'd given up so much to get the cat and then he'd had to wait so long for another chance. His father had been the one to help them escape the last time, and had then taken the child. Not that it had been such a great loss to lose the others of the family, but Papa D had gotten so attached to the cat . It was useful, especially when some human appeared and wanted to buy it. The cat was an efficient killer, in its immature form.  
  
'Now, I can use him again.' He thought of the frightened boy he'd seen in the dream. 'He'll be an even better pet than my last cat, and I won't even have to steal him. His family has mistreated him so badly, he won't want to stay with them. He'll beg to come with me' It would be difficult now that he knew his father was also watching the cat. Still, it wasn't impossible. The cat would be useful in Papa D's coming plans. The destruction of humanity.  
  
Tet-chan-  
  
When's big brother going to come home? Chris asked as he brushed his teeth under Tet-chan's watchful gaze. He's been gone for a long time.  
  
"Only a couple of hours." Tet-chan replied with a careless shrug. "He'll be back when he gets hungry."  
  
Chris frowned at Tet-chan. Don't talk like that! He comes to see me and the Count, not just to eat!  
  
"Hrumph! That idiot human can't think above his stomach. Rinse your mouth out and get your night clothes on." Tet-chan had no troubles insulting Leon, whom he considered unworthy to lick Count D's feet, but he didn't like upsetting Chris. Chris belonged to him...sort of.  
  
But I want to see big brother before I go to sleep! Chris protested in his mind voice, even as Tet-chan helped to pull off Chris' t-shirt before handing him a nightshirt. I haven't seen him in ages and the Count said he was going to see him tonight. I don't see why I couldn't go, too!  
  
"You saw him yesterday. Besides, you couldn't go because your big brother's plane didn't land till well after eleven and your bedtime is nine o'clock. I won't have you up to late or you'll be in a bad mood in the morning." Tet-chan took his responsibilities for Chris very seriously. Count D had told Tet-chan to watch over Chris and Tet-chan always did exactly as the Count told him. After keeping and eye of Chris for so long, though, Tet-chan had grown very fond of the young human. "Don't worry. Your brother will be here in the morning, I expect. He always shows up for breakfast. Now, get into bed. Tomorrow we'll go explore the city while the Count's busy. Are you excited to be in a new city? A whole new country?"  
  
I guess. Chris shrugged. No one's going to be able to hear me here, either.  
  
"What kind of talk is that?" Tet-chan growled. "I can hear you. Pon-chan can hear you."  
  
It's not the same. Why's the Count going to be busy? Chris asked, crawling into his bed and letting Tet-chan cover him up with the blankets. We're on vacation, aren't we? Isn't that why big brother wanted to come here?  
  
"Yeah...well...the Count doesn't tell me his business." Tet-chan admitted, more than a little bitter that Count D would rather confide in that stupid human than Tet-chan. "I'm just a pet."  
  
Pet? But you're a person, how can you be a pet? Chris honestly looked confused, but he yawned as he asked. He'd be fast asleep in just a few minutes. That was one of the cute things about Chris, in Tet-chan's opinion. He didn't understand that all the friends he'd made in the petshop were animals. He thought they were just regular people. Tet-chan was tempted to explain things to Chris, but Count D had made it very clear that he didn't want Chris to be told anything about the nature of the petshop or its residents. Not that Tet-chan understood himself. No matter how strong he was, he was still just a pet. The Count was the only person who understood everything about the Petshop.  
  
At that moment, the door of Chris' bedroom popped open and Ten-chan, Count D's new Kitsune, poked his head in. The fox demon was, in appearance, about Tet-chan's age, but wore his hair in a very long braid that hung down nearly to his knees. With blue jeans cut off at the knees and bright green sneakers, Ten-chan looked very different from Tet-chan. He wore long chains around his neck and earrings along with a mocking smirk. All in all, he looked like modern, teenage human.   
  
"Hey, Tet!" Ten-chan grinned, winking at little Chris as he did. "You wanna take a break from babysitter duty for a minute? Got something I wanna talk to you about." His tone was light, but his emerald green eyes were dark and serious. "Nothing big, but with the Count gone, you know..."  
  
"I'll be right there." Tet-chan hated the informal, casual way Ten-chan spoke, but he did know what Ten-chan was talking about. When the Count was away from the petshop, it seemed that most of the pets looked to Tet-chan for direction, for some reason. It wasn't something he'd asked for and the only reason he could find for it was that he was closer to the Count than any of the other pets, except for Q-chan and Q-chan was in an entirely different category. Tet-chan didn't even know what Q-chan was and he never seemed to remember to ask the Count. When Ten-chan left Tet-chan looked down at Chris and was satisfied that the child was about to fall asleep.  
  
Tet-chan smiled at Chris, showing his sharp, pointed teeth. "Don't worry about it. Time to sleep." He turned off the light beside Chris' bed and gave the child a kiss on the forehead. Tet-chan wasn't sure why, but Chris liked to have a kiss before he went to sleep every night. So, if the stupid big brother couldn't be there to do it and Count D was unavailable, Tet-chan did it. He really didn't understand why Chris needed it, but Chris claimed he couldn't sleep until he had a good-night kiss.  
  
Night, Tet-chan.  
  
"Good night."  
  
After that, Tet-chan left the room and found Ten-chan waiting for him outside, in the dim hallway. "I think you're actually getting attached to the little human." Ten-chan remarked with a quiet smile. "Are you done coddling him? Who would have thought the terrible Tou-Tetsu had gone soft for one small, defenseless human boy?"  
  
"Shut up, fox, or I'll show you how soft I've gone. How I treat Chris is my business and the Count's, not yours. Now take me to the problem. The Count said he wouldn't be home till late or very early. He's got business with some cat." Tet-chan said without preamble. He and Ten-chan started walking, side-by-side down the corridor. "So, what's wrong? Someone acting up?" Strangely, Tet-chan, the fearsome, savage killer, often found himself the peacekeeper in the Count's absences. He was one of the few pets with the strength to control the others.  
  
"No, actually it's a human." Ten-chan gave him a side-long look as they walked.  
  
"A human? A mere human in the Petshop? How did they get in?" Tet-chan stopped walking and gave Ten-chan a puzzled look. "What kind of trouble could a human cause here?"  
  
"She's not in here. She's watching the petshop." Ten-chan's voice was serious and Ten-chan didn't get serious unless he had very good reason. Normally, Ten-chan was one of the most easy-going pets. "She's been watching the petshop for almost two hours. Just thought you might like to have a look."  
  
Tet-chan cracked open the front door of the petshop and peeked outside. While he did this, Ten-chan came up close behind him and looked over his shoulder. They stood so closely together that Tet-chan had the uncomfortable feeling that Ten-chan had done this on purpose just to have an excuse to grope him. Ten-chan did things like that.   
  
"Look, there. That white car. You see it?" Ten-chan pointed out to the street, his arm brushing Tet-chan's face as he reached passed him. "She's just been sitting there for two hours."  
  
While it was odd, Tet-chan couldn't see any risk that some stupid human posed to the petshop or   
  
the pets. Even if she did intend harm, it would be amazing if she managed to get into the petshop, into the back room, and make her way passed the more dangerous pets that guarded the petshop. In fact, the only human who had ever gone into the petshop when Count D hadn't allowed it was Leon, Chris' stupid big brother, and that was only because the Count had told all the pets specifically not to hurt Leon. "Is that all you're worried about?" Tet-chan scowled. He pushed back abruptly, putting Ten-chan off balance and making him step away to a more comfortable distance. "I thought this was something important. She's only a human, right?"  
  
"Oh, yeah. Most certainly. I took a sniff around. She's human. Here." Ten-chan held out one hand and let Tet-chan sniff it. There was a normal human scent on top of Ten-chan's heavier scent. Tet-chan filed the human female's scent away automatically in his mind, though he'd never likely need it. "I thought you should know. If you don't think it's important, then we'll just ignore her and the Count will take care of her."  
  
Try as he might, Tet-chan couldn't find any good reason to worry over a human who wanted to sit in her car outside the petshop. He shrugged at Ten-chan. "Just keep the door locked and watch for anyone who tries to break in." Humans were no concern of his, except as dinner.  
  
Ren-  
  
Ren watched the small, dark petshop with the instructions loudly ringing in her mind.  
  
"Do not attempt to enter." Dr. D had told her, firmly. "It is a very well guarded and you would be killed before you took even four steps. It is to powerful a place for you to enter unprotected. I still have use for you."  
  
"I'm touched by your concern." Ren commented dryly.  
  
Dr. D turned his terrifying eyes on her and Ren shivered, feeling uncomfortably like a bug about to be pinned down by a collector. "I am not concerned for you. You are useful at the moment, but are easily replaced. You will be rewarded if you do well, but failure is something you should not contemplate."  
  
Ren didn't like Dr. D. He was arrogant and condescending, but he was also useful to her. He would give her the Souma family on a silver platter and all for the payment of one distraction and the loss of Kyou. The risks of police, not to mention the far more gruesome doom that Akito would deliver upon her, didn't seem so terrible to Ren. Akito was well known in the family for being unforgiving and ruthless. He'd nearly killed his own doctor, Hatori, for simply wanting to get married. What would he do when he found out that Ren had helped to kidnap Kyou.  
  
'No, he won't do anything. He hates Kyou more than anyone.' She'd come to the petshop, not to take the child, Chris, but to watch her enemies. She knew, from Dr. D, that the child was protected by his older brother and the owner of the petshop. There were vicious animals in the petshop that were well able to kill. 'So I won't grab the boy here.' So late at night, the petshop was dark while everyone likely slept inside. 'The child will leave the petshop sooner or later. He'll go out for a walk or go to the park. He won't always be protected.' Ren started her car and pulled away from where she'd been watching the petshop, making her plans. 'One way or another, I'll get him and then the Souma family will be mine.'  
  
If Ren were thinking clearly, she'd have realized that there was only one head of the family. Only Akito could chose the next head of the family, that was how it had always been done.  
  
The next morning-  
  
Hatori-  
  
Hatori sat by Kyou's bedside most of the night. There were no more nightmares, but Kyou's fever didn't break until nearly dawn. While he waited at Kyou's side, Hatori began to hear the sounds of life in the house. A door down the hall opened then closed, followed by soft footsteps. That was probably Tohru; Yuki never woke up so early and Shigure hadn't come home, yet. The sound of Tohru's footsteps paused outside Kyou's door, but then moved on, down to the kitchen. She had likely wanted to go in and check on Kyou, but decided it was best not to disturb him. Hatori was glad for that, Kyou would need all the sleep he could get.  
  
A soft ring drew Hatori's attention and he pulled his cell phone out of his black doctor's bag. "Hello?"  
  
"Hatori-sensei?" It was Kagura's mother, sounding more than a little frantic. "Oh, thank goodness! Hatori-sensei, you have to come home, we need you!"  
  
"What's happened?" Hatori asked calmly, thinking that something had happened to Akito again. Kagura was a very strong, healthy girl and wasn't prone to injuring herself.  
  
"Rin's been hurt. She fell out of a window at the bathhouse."  
  
Hatori was on his feet before she finished speaking, gathering up his coat and his bag. "Where is she?" Rin? Falling out of a window? It was unlikely at best. Rin was as athletic as the rest of the family and for her to just fall out of the window seemed nearly impossible. 'Akito's behind this.' As much as Hatori felt like he should hate Akito, for all the pain and misery he'd brought into   
  
the world, he couldn't bring himself to. It was Hatori's fault, really. He should have been at the house to keep an eye on Akito, then this wouldn't have happened. 'But if I was at the house, who would have taken care of Kyou?'  
  
"She's at my house." Kagura's mother said. " Hatsuharu won't leave her side, I think he's gone black, but he hasn't broken anything or tried to hurt anyone. He just glares when anyone tries to get near Rin." There was a note of fear in the woman's voice, but that wasn't unreasonable, considering who she was talking about.  
  
"Let him stay with Rin, he won't do anything to endanger her. I'll be home in about ten minutes." With that, Hatori turned off the cell phone and put a hand on Kyou's forehead again. He still had a fever, but it was much less sever than when Hatori had arrived. Hatori headed down stairs, first to speak with Tohru about Kyou and then to leave and tend to Rin. As he suspected, Hatori found Tohru in the kitchen, getting ready for the day. What he didn't expect, was to find Tohru singing.  
  
Her voice made Hatori pause, all of his responsibilities forgotten for a moment. He'd never heard Tohru sing, though Momiji had told him about their little sing along at the hot springs. He'd said that it was hard getting Tohru to sing, her voice was weak and unsure. She was just to shy, Momiji had reported, to raise her voice up to more than a whisper. A whisper was not what Hatori heard now.  
  
Tohru's voice was sure and strong, completely unlike what Momiji had described. Rich and vibrant, Tohru sang to herself. She sang of love and longing and loneliness. Her voice could break hearts, Hatori thought as he wondered how many people had heard Tohru's singing. Shigure would never wake up this early, nor would Yuki. Even Kyou wouldn't wake up before dawn. Perhaps that was why Tohru woke up so early, so she could sing when no one would hear her.  
  
Hatori shook his head to break the spell Tohru had unintentionally woven around him. He had work to do and people who depended on him, he couldn't afford to be idle. "Tohru?" He called out before entering the kitchen. The song broke off very suddenly and Hatori hoped he hadn't embarrassed Torhu.  
  
"Yes?" She answered, hesitantly. "Come in, please, Hatori-san. I didn't know you were here."  
  
"Shigure asked me to come and keep an eye on Kyou; he had to leave for a little while. He should be back soon, though." Hatori found Tohru in her apron and her hair tucked under a neat kerchief. She was also blushing faintly at having been caught singing, so Hatori did her the courtesy of not mentioning what he'd heard, though he couldn't understand why she would keep such a talent a secret. It wasn't his business. "I need to leave, please keep and eye on Kyou. He's not to go to school until I say he's healthy. If you can convince him, I don't even want him out of bed until I see him again."  
  
"Yes, Hatori-san." Tohru smiled, getting over her embarrassment. "Would you like some breakfast before you leave? I can..."  
  
"Thank you, but no. I have things to do. I will come back tonight to check on Kyou. If you have any problems, Yuki and Shigure know my cell phone number." He left quickly, but made a mental note to speak with Tohru in private about her singing. It could be a blessing for Tohru. She was far from being comfortable, in terms of money, and, in all kindness, she wasn't the brightest of students. She was all set to be either a cleaning lady for the rest of her life or a housewife. While Tohru would probably be very happy as either, she deserved better. Perhaps he could convince her to try a career as a singer.  
  
He wanted the best for her and it was no mystery why. She reminded him a great deal of Kana, her sweet, gentle nature and her loving heart. In fact, Hatori always envisioned that if he and Kana had ever had a daughter, she would be like Tohru. He would have been so proud to have her as his daughter. Maybe that was why he was a bit protective. If she had been his child...well, no sense in thinking such nonsense.  
  
By the time Hatori pulled into the estate, parking his car in front of Kagura's family's house, he was pretty sure he knew what had happened and he didn't like it. Of course, he had no proof until he spoke to Rin. She might have gotten drunk, it wouldn't have been the first time. Maybe someone had spilled some water and she'd slipped. There were lots of possibilities. It didn't really HAVE to be Akito's fault.  
  
Momiji was sitting on the front steps of Kagura's house, his left foot tapping erratically as he was wont to do when he was nervous or agitated. Momiji leapt agilely to his feet when he saw Hatori step out of his shining black car. "Hari! You're finally here!" It wasn't just Momiji who waited for Hatori. Ritsu sat with Momiji, looking as if he'd been crying and Hatori wanted to send Ritsu back to bed. The boy shouldn't be up and around so early, he still needed his rest. There was also the two youngest of the Junikyu, Hiro and Kisa, sat side-by-side on the bottom step that led up into the house. It seem that all the Junikyu who lived at the estate, and even one who did not, had heard about Rin's 'accident' and had come to offer what little support they could.   
  
Hiro was unusually silent, and his mind seemed to be far away. Normally, the boy would spout off stinging jibes about how long it had taken Hatori to get there, Momiji's figiting, or even the color of the sky. Now, he just sat and looked pale.  
  
"Where's Hatsuharu?" Hatori asked without slowing his step as he made his way to the front door.  
  
"He's still with Rin." Kagura said, opening the door for Hatori. "He won't leave her."  
  
Hatori nodded and walked passed the younger ones of his family. He couldn't rightly call them children anymore and that made him worry. Hatsuharu and Rin were nearly grown, they're dangerous love proof of that. Kagura was very mature in her own way and there was no doubt that she would also be in danger if Kyou got up the nerve to return her love. Momiji wasn't far behind, he was as old as Hatsuharu. The thought of Momiji falling in love frightened Hatori to no end. He'd gotten so used to having his child.  
  
Shigure-  
  
Shigure had meant to go home after leaving Ayame's, he wanted to get home and see how Kyou was faring. Yet, hours had passed and Shigure still prowled the streets of Ayame's neighborhood, looking for a nightmare. The sun had risen and Shigure had never felt so helpless. His enemy was nearby, but Shigure couldn't find him. 'Where is he? It can't be the same person. Maybe it's the descendent of the Count D I read about in the diary. But where? If I just ask his friend, Leon, he wouldn't tell me the truth and Ayame didn't know. How can I find him if I can't even smell him? Why doesn't he have a scent? All living animals have a scent. Rocks have a scent, wind has a scent. So what...what is he?'  
  
In all truth, he didn't know what he was looking for. The logical, human side of Shigure knew that no creature could live so long. Hundred of years ago that diary had been written, it just wasn't possible that it was the same Count D. The monster who had virtually destroyed the Souma family, wrought unforgivable pain upon generations of Souma's, could NOT be alive. Then again...Shigure also knew that he turned into a dog. He knew Hatori could take memories by a mere touch. He knew his life and the lives of his family depended on Akito's life. There WAS magic in this world and nightmares were real.  
  
Count D.  
  
That name had brought Shigure so many nightmares, making him wake in a cold sweat. It was a name Shigure had learned to fear and hate over the years as he'd brooded over the fate of his family. Count D who was so powerful, so evil.  
  
Now there was a possibility that a living nightmare was in Tokyo and possibly looking for the Souma's. It wouldn't be hard from him to find Shigure's family, the Souma's had grown in power and prestige. Even if they did keep a safely low profile, a person only had to look in the phone book to find a hundred listings under the name 'Souma'.  
  
After realizing what danger his family was suddenly in, Shigure had begun his search by changing his outlook. 'My family's in danger, my pack.' Shigure stopped walking and lowered his head until he stared at his feet. 'I won't let him hurt my family again.' The world around Shigure dimmed as he let his mind slip away from the restrains of his human mind and into the thought of his canine self. The sounds of the night city dulled and Shigure was reduced to little more than his sense of smell, his most trusted sense. 'Danger. My blood is threatened...I will not allow it!'  
  
Shigure's head shot abruptly. His nostril's flared as he caught the breeze and began to sort out the scents carried on the breeze. Humans, animals, and alcohol from a nearby bar. Another sniff and Shigure found the smell of perfume on a passing woman, coffee from an all night diner across the street, and the stench of sex on a dishevel passing teenager. There were so many scents, but nothing out of the ordinary.  
  
Shigure's prey had been here just a short time ago, probably walked on this very sidewalk. His scent should still be here. 'Have to find him. He's going to hurt my family again. He hurt us so much last time, what would he do now?' Images of everyone Shigure loved sprang into his mind. His dearest friends, the children he cared for, and the young man he gave his heart to. Shigure's mind filled with hate for the vile monster that would hurt his family. 'They've suffered enough. I won't let it happen again. I'll die before I let them get hurt again!'   
  
But he hadn't found a thing. A whole night wasted and Shigure hadn't found the mysterious petshop. Ayame's shop was in the middle of the city, but his neighborhood was relatively small. It should have taken Shigure less than twenty minutes to find a new shop in the area. It was almost as if the petshop didn't want to be found.  
  
Still, Shigure searched, going over the streets and back alleys he'd already been through three times. 'I must have missed it. A tiny hole in the wall place could be easily overlooked, so he would just have to... a terrible thought struck Shigure and he froze in mid-step.   
  
'The diary said Count D wanted the cat more than any of the others.' Shigure thought of the still sick Kyou, laying helplessly in bed. 'He'll go after Kyou. I left the children alone. Hatori's not any good in a fight. He'll be hurt, too. The children. I promised I'd protect the children!' Shigure changed direction abruptly and bolted back to his house.  
  
Shigure ran and ran through the forests that surrounded his home. He ran desperately and was hardly aware that he had company until he was nearly at the house.  
  
\\You are worried.\\ It was the she wolf who spoke. Shigure had known her since the day she was born and had actually attended her birth. Her mother had been the daughter of Shigure's closed companion in the local wolf pack when he was a child, but she had died several years ago. This wolf bore the same patters of color on her coat as her mother had and just looking at her was enough to make Shigure grieve again for his dead friend.  
  
"That's an understatement." Shigure said softly, not slowing in his run. He knew that not only the she-wolf could keep up with him, but could easily outrun him if she wished to.  
  
\\There is much reason to be worried. Change has come to our world again.\\  
  
"Change?" Shigure had the sudden impression that the young wolf knew something. It often surprised him when one of the wolves would show him exactly how intelligent they were. This she-wolf had the same intelligence her mother had once had. "What change?"  
  
\\Perhaps change is the wrong word. Something...different has come. Something great and powerful, terrible...unthinkable. It has passed through our forest to your den. They are all here, close by. I fear for my pack, as you do yours.\\  
  
For the first time since he realized that Kyou might be in immediate danger, Shigure slowed down and finally stopped, regarding the wolf. "What do you mean 'they'? They who?" Shigure thought there was only one person he had to worry about.  
  
\\You know who I mean.\\ She gave him a knowing look. \\The Father Of All, The Lost Son, and the Unwanted Child. They hunt your pack, all for their own reasons, and you fear them all.\\  
  
'Three of them?' Shigure swallowed hard. He was only expecting one. Only one of them had done so much damage to his family. What would three do? "Are you sure? They're here?"  
  
\\I can feel them. We all can. The Unwanted Child is near. I can smell him. The Father Of All follows him closely.\\  
  
"You can smell them?" Shigure tilted his head upward and sniffed, but he still couldn't find anything unusual. It irritated him to no end, his nose had never failed him before.  
  
\\You can't? They smell...so sweet.\\ When she turned her golden eyes back to Shigure, the she-wolf grinned. \\You should be going, friend. You worry for your young, do you not?\\  
  
Shigure took off again with the gentle reminder that his family was still in danger. Hatori had likely met the terrible Count D, but now there might be more than one of these people. Kyou was still likely to be the main target of these people, and Shigure had no idea what he could possibly do to solve all these problems. Now, instead of one enemy, Shigure had three and they didn't have very comforting names. The Father of All? The Lost Son? The Unwanted Child? This was making less and less sense.   
  
The she-wolf didn't follow him.  
  
It was well into morning when Shigure arrived home to a strangely quiet house. He was used to hearing Yuki and Kyou fighting at this time in the morning. He dashed upstairs, taking them two steps at a time, heading directly for Kyou's room. He was half afraid that he was going to find Kyou's room empty, but, with his eyes wide and sweating, Shigure pulled open the door of Kyou's bedroom and found his young cousin still sound asleep in his bed.   
  
"Oh, thank goodness." Shigure sagged against the doorframe and closed his eyes. All the way home, he'd been so afraid that Kyou would be gone. When he'd caught his breath, Shigure went to Kyou and looked down at him. He still didn't look entirely well, but at least he wasn't feverish anymore. 'Strange. I wonder where Ha-san went. He wouldn't just leave for no reason.' No doubt Hatori had to run off and look after Akito for some reason and Shigure couldn't begrudge him that. So long as Hatori didn't try to go after Count D. Shigure would have to warn Hatori as soon as possible. "Kyou, you had me so worried." But there was more to think about. "Yuki! Tohru! Where is everyone?!"  
  
"Shigure-san, I'm in the back yard. What's wrong?" He found Tohru in the back yard, where she'd obviously just finished hanging up the laundry she always did on Saturday morning. She looked a bit confused and, even as she spoke, she looked over her shoulder at the empty back yard with a puzzled frown.  
  
Tohru was normally a little bit of a feather head, but she looked even more flighty than normal. Like her mind was in an entirely different world. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, yes." She smiled brightly. "I'm fine. Just fine. You were yelling?"  
  
"Yes. Sorry about that. Have you seen Yuki?"  
  
"He went out early, just after Hatori-san left. He said he wanted to find a job."  
  
And so Yuki added one more problem to Shigure's already overflowing plate. "A job?! What does he need a job for? He never spends any money and I'll give him anything he does need."  
  
Tohru shrugged, now completely over whatever had distracted her. "He told me he didn't want to be dependant on the family money. He wanted to earn his own." She seemed very happy about Yuki's decision and smiled. "Yuki-kun's so responsible."  
  
"Yes," Shigure sighed. "I suppose he is. It sounds like something Yuki would do. Well, at least I know he'll be careful." That left so many other problems and Shigure realized with a self-conscious laugh that suddenly Tohru was at the bottom of his list of problems to solve. It didn't matter what she was, Shigure was absolutely positive that Tohru would never hurt the family.  
  
Shigure left Tohru to hang up the laundry and went back into his house. 'I can't leave the house now, not till Kyou wakes up. I can't leave him alone. Maybe Count D will leave the rest of the family, if he only wants Kyou. He'll have to come here and I'll be waiting for him. I'll have to send Torhu and Yuki away.' Shigure didn't like the fact that he would be using Kyou as bait, but there was little else he could do. 'Of course,' Shigure's eyes darkened as he stepped into his house. 'I'll kill Count D before he lays a hand on Kyou. Either that, or I'll kill myself.'  
  
Count D-  
  
How amazing, to find so many of this unusual species so quickly upon his arrival in Japan. Count D was very pleased that in just a few hours of being in Japan he'd met the dragon and the snake as well as the monkey. The nightingale was a complete surprise. Still, it was a pleasant coincidence. Perhaps, to much of a coincidence.  
  
She had grown up so much, he thought, watching the girl while she hung out newly washed clothes on a clothes line. The woman who'd bought this delicate nightingale, Honda Kyoko, had been dead more than a year now. The nightingale should have returned to the petshop by now, if everything had gone normally. The pets always returned to the petshop when their owners died. All but this one. In fact, she looked relatively happy. Odd. Very odd.  
  
"Good morning." Count D made himself seen and smiled sweetly at the girl. She should have been desperately unhappy without her owner, her purpose. She had been designed to make her owner happy, it was her greatest pleasure in life. Count D knew because he had helped to design this child, he knew how her mind operated. Her grief at losing her owner should have driven her back to the petshop or, in a worst case scenario, to her own death. That was the trouble with pets born and raised with a particular owner. They were emotionally dependant on that owner. 'Perhaps she's become dependant on someone else. Without her rightful owner, she might have been desperate enough to latch onto someone else.'  
  
Tohru-  
  
Tohru was more than a little surprised to find a stranger watching her. "Oh, hello." There was something about him. Tohru felt like she'd come into the presence of another prince or something even greater. He was very beautiful, but unlike anyone Tohru had ever seen before. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." She was sure that she ought to remember this person.  
  
The smile never left his face and Tohru began to feel strangely relaxed. "No need to apologize to me, child. I was merely watching you." His voice was gentle and felt as if it wrapped around Tohru's mind.  
  
"Watching me?" Tohru took a step closer to the stranger while she heard voices speaking to her softly. Kyou told her not to be so trusting. There were bad people in the world and it was Tohru's empty headed expression that would get her kidnapped one day. "Why?" Yuki told her to beware of strangers, there were perverts in the forest around Shigure's house.  
  
"I was just passing by when I saw you. May I ask your name, young lady?" He held out a hand to her and Tohru noticed that his fingernails were very long and painted a most beautiful shade of pale purple. Tohru reached out and took the offered hand without thinking. He was so beautiful and Tohru liked the way he smiled at her. The man put his free hand on the side of Tohru's head, petting her hair. It made Tohru so happy that she thought she might start purring.  
  
"Honda Tohru." She leaned her head slightly to the side, into the palm of the man's hand. She liked his touch, he was perfect. So beautiful, so kind. She felt as if she could stay with him and just stare into his eyes forever. It was strange, she hadn't felt so happy since before her mother had died. Tohru slid down to her knees, her eyes fastened to the stranger's face. If she never moved again, she would be happy.  
  
"I am pleased to meet you, Tohru. May I ask you some questions?"  
  
"Yes." She didn't hesitate. She would tell him anything he wanted to know.  
  
"Are you happy?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Who do you want to make happy?"  
  
"Everyone." It was Tohru's favorite thing, if she could make the people around her smile. "I like making everyone happy."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Tohru's smile faltered, but only for a moment. She could trust him. He'd never tell. "If I make them happy, they won't be sad when I die. If I make them smile now, they won't cry so much later. I don't want anyone to be sad for me." It made so much sense to Tohru. She had to die, to be with her mom. She promised that she'd stay with her mom forever. So after fulfilling her mom's last wish, Tohru would join her.  
  
"Are you sure you want to die?"  
  
"I..." Tohru was sure. She'd been planning it for a long time. It was the right thing to do. But...did she really want to leave her friends behind? Yuki? Kyou? Shigure? Hana and Uo whom she'd known for such a long time. They'd all been so kind to her. "I think so."  
  
"I see. Do you believe you are human?"  
  
"Yes." What a silly question that was, but she hoped he would ask her another just so she could hear the sound of his voice.  
  
"What a good girl you are." He stroked her hair again. "Tell me about the people who live here."  
  
Tohru felt sick very suddenly. "I...I can't. I promised." She didn't want to deny him anything, least of all something so small as an answer. After all, he would never hurt the Souma's. He was a good person, but she'd promised. "It's very important."  
  
"That's all right." The kind man said, making the sick feeling in Tohru's stomach vanish with his twinkling eyes. So good...he'd even forgiven her for not answering. Tohru leaned her head forward until her forehead rested against the fabric of the man's elaborate robes. "I just wanted to meet you again, that's all."  
  
"Again?"  
  
Shigure's voice shouted from the house, "Yuki! Tohru! Where is everyone?"  
  
Tohru blinked at Shigure's voice. Shigure? She turned her head away from the stranger to look at the house. "Shigure?"  
  
She was alone. Tohru found that she was suddenly alone, kneeling in the grass of Shigure's back yard with no idea of why she was kneeling. Hadn't she just been doing the laundry? 'There was someone here, wasn't there?' Tohru looked around, feeling a little lightheaded. 'I thought...I was sure there was someone here. A man...I think. Maybe.' She wasn't sure now.  
  
"Where is everyone?!" Shigure was starting to sound panicked.  
  
"Shigure-san," Tohru called out, getting to her feet and trying to forget about the strange experience she'd just had. "I'm in the back yard. What's wrong?" She ran into the house, now more worried about Shigure than about whatever she'd been dreaming about. Yes, that was it. It was so early, she'd probably just fallen asleep and had a strange dream.   
  
Count D-  
  
How odd. Still, it wasn't completely unexpected. Living with humans her entire life, it shouldn't be a surprise that she thought she was human, too.  
  
'I'll have to correct that as soon as possible.'  
  
After his short stay with Leon at the tailor's shop, Count D had decided that there were things he had to do. The whole purpose for this little trip to Japan was to, mainly, keep an eye on Leon. Count D had gone through to much to establish a pleasant...relationship with Leon, he wasn't about to let Leon run off and get himself killed. The secondary reason to retrieve his nightingale. With the death of it's owner, the nightingale, Tohru, would come back to live with him at the petshop. There was no reason for her to keep living here when she had no owner and no one to take care of her properly. Perhaps he could sell her to a new owner.  
  
It was an added bonus that she just happened to have stumbled across the third reason Count D had come to Japan. The Junikyu. His nightingale lived with the polluted family of the Junikyu. He was actually pleased that she'd refused to tell him about the people she lived with. It showed a great deal of strength that she could resist D's influence. He could have forced her to speak, but that wasn't the point of his visit. He already knew about the Junikyu, enough to know what he had to do.  
  
Count D started back towards his petshop. It was well passed dawn and Chris would be waking up soon. Even if Chris managed to sleep in, which he rarely did, Leon would no doubt make an appearance and start demanding how D had moved the entire petshop across and ocean. D was pretty sure Leon wouldn't believe whatever lie he was told, but he probably wouldn't argue with D to much.  
  
Time to go home. He'd come for the Junikyu and his nightingale later. Right now, Tet-chan would probably like to get some sleep and he wouldn't do that until D got home.  
  
Hatori-  
  
Rin was going to live, but that was as much as Hatori could offer her in such conditions. He wanted her admitted to a hospital at once and, for once, he'd overridden Akito's authority. Instead of doing what he'd always done and ask for Akito's permission, he took matters into his own hands.  
  
"Hatori-sensei?" Kagura's mother, who'd left him alone while he saw to Rin, watched him nervously lift Rin up and start to carry her out. "What are you doing? Shouldn't she rest? What about her back?" It hurt the woman that Rin had been hurt. After all, when Rin's parents had left her, she'd practically been raised by Kagura's mother. It must be like seeing her own child so badly hurt.  
  
"She needs to get to the hospital." Hatori said shortly. "Her back isn't so badly hurt as I thought it was, but she's in shock and she's lost a lot of blood. She'll need a transfusion and I can't treat her properly here." Haru didn't ask for any explanations, but held the door open for Hatori and it was taken for granted that he would go with Rin to the hospital. His face was so black that Hatori marveled at his self-control at not destroying the house. "Hatsuharu, get Momiji, he's coming with us."  
  
Hatsuharu nodded, but walked with Hatori as they left the house. Instead of asking, or anything so civilized, on their way out Hatsuharu grabbed Momiji by the collar of his shirt and picked up up.  
  
"What...?" Momiji said as he was carried down to Hatori's car by Hatsuharu. "Where are we going?" He relaxed the moment he saw who'd picked him up and let his friend carry him until they got to the bottom of the stairs when Hatsuharu put him down and took Rin from Hatori.  
  
"Hospital. Hatori wants you." Hatsuharu answered tensely. They all climbed into Hatori's black car with Momiji sitting in the front with Hatori while Hartsuharu was in back, holding Rin's head on his lap and keeping her steady while they drove.  
  
  
  
Later-  
  
It was an illusion of comfort.  
  
Nothing at all like a normal hospital room, the Souma's private room at the local hospital. It had been a room rented out by the family for more than three generations, ever since the hospital had been built. It was a precaution for emergencies like now and when Hatori had lost his eye. Although expensive, it was thought to be a good investment by the family and Akito paid without hesitation, as did his three predecessors.   
  
The single bed in the large room was dressed not with cheap sheets and a thin blanket, but with the fine linens and a thick down comforted. The window overlooked a park with a good view of the river. The floor was covered with a thick, plush carpet of ivory. There were paintings decorating the walls and fresh flowers in the room. Under the opulent surface, though, Hatori could still smell bleach and other disinfectants. It was still a hospital, no matter what it looked like.  
  
'What happened this time?' Hatori wondered, taking a drink from his mug of coffee. He was so tired, but there was no time to sleep. He'd already taken two caffeine tablets to keep him awake and alert. He wished he could smoke, but the caffeine would have to do for now. Ayame still nagged at him about his smoking. He said a doctor should know better than to smoke and that it made Hatori's reek of cigarette smoke. Of course Hatori knew better. It just gave him a bit of satisfaction to have at least one thing in his life that he could control, even if that one thing he was controlling was his own death.  
  
"Hari?" Hatori looked away from Rin to where Momiji had just woken up. Momiji and Hatsuharu had slept at the hospital after their donations to Rin. It had only been a couple of hours, but neither of the boys were used to giving blood, let alone so much of it. It was one of the benefits of being such a well respected doctor. He had walked into the hospital with Rin and was given everything he needed from an operating room to several female nurses to check in on Rin every few hours. No questions were asked.  
  
"Yes?" It was lucky that all Junikyu could donate blood to each other. Hatori had no idea what would happen if a Junikyu tried to take blood from a normal human or if they donated blood to a normal human. It was to much of a risk to experiment.  
  
"You're still awake." Momiji sat up on the cot one of the nurses had found for him and Hatsuharu and rubbed his sleepy eyes. "Shouldn't you sleep? You look awful tired."  
  
"Not yet. I still have a lot to do." Hatori had a soft spot for Momiji, that was no secret. He knew that Momiji was a lot stronger and far smarter than most people gave him credit for. The only person who probably knew how strong Momiji was, besides Hatori, was Hatsuharu. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"Tired. How's Rin?"  
  
"She'll be sore for a long while, but she'll live. With luck, she won't even have a scar. It's lucky that Hatsuharu was around. If she'd been left to lay there all night I don't think she'd have been so lucky." Hatori rubbed a hand over his face and sighed.   
  
Last night? Was it just one night? He hadn't slept in two days. The first night he'd been kept awake by one of Akito's fevers and spent the whole of the following day helping Ayame to clean the upstairs rooms of his shop for his visitors. Then he'd driven Ayame to the airport and been so frightened to find out one of Ayame's new friends somehow knew about the Junikyu that he felt he couldn't leave Ayame alone with the strange man. Then the call from Shigure and he'd looked after Kyou all night and now this. Two days and nights without sleep wasn't healthy and Hatori would order anyone else to get straight to bed. Unfortunately, Hatori still had work to do. He had to check on Kyou, look in on Akito, go find that man who knew about the Junikyu and steal his memory. He couldn't afford to rest.  
  
Momiji stood up shakily. He swayed for a moment before he walked to Hatori's side and looked at Rin with him. "Hatsuharu thinks Akito did it." The fear in Momiji's voice was subdued, but it was there. "Do you think he's right? Would Akito really try to kill one of us?"  
  
Hatori was silent and thought of his long dead father. The previous head of the family. He remembered beatings he had no will to fight against. His father had been his god and he could no more fight against his father than he could raise his hand against Akito. Hatori's father had often hurt him badly, but never so badly as he'd hurt Shigure. "I...I hope he won't." He couldn't lie to Momiji, though he wanted to. The head of a family should protect that family, not try to kill them.  
  
"Hari?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Momiji?" Hatori turned to look at Momiji, puzzled by the silence.  
  
"I'm afraid." Momiji's voice came out very small and his eyes were dilated. "Why did Akito do it? Why would he? We never do anything to hurt him, we all protect him! Why does he want to hurt us?!"  
  
"Keep your voice down." Hatori stood and helped Momiji back to the small cot and made him lie down again. "You've given a lot of blood to Rin and it's confusing you."  
  
"I'm not confused. I'm scared!"  
  
"So am I." It was the best Hatori could do. He wished he could say or do something more for Momiji, but there wasn't. "I don't think Akito ever wanted to hurt anyone. It's just something that happens."  
  
"That's not a very good reason." Momiji scowled. He looked again at Rin, still looking horribly pale. "I almost hated her. I felt like she was taking Haru away from me. What if she'd died? I don't think Haru could have stood it. He really loves her so much." By now, Momiji was looking at Hatsuharu's sleeping face. Even with all his tattoos and piercings, Hatsuharu had such an innocent face. He was a child trying to look dangerous. Of course he was dangerous, when angered, but he was still a child. A child in love.  
  
Hatori was not normally comfortable with touching other people, but Momiji was an exception. He put his arms around Momiji and gave him a tight hug. "Try to rest. I have things to do today, so I can't stay all day with Rin. Will you and Hatsuharu spend the day looking after her? I'll be back tonight." It seemed best to change the subject. He knew Momiji was a bit jealous of Rin, but Momiji would never do anything to challenge her relationship with Hatsuharu.  
  
"Sure!" Momiji flashed a bright smile, but Hatori wasn't fooled. Momiji hopped up from the cot again. "I don't wanna sleep. I'm going down to the cafeteria for something, I'm so hungry! Do you want some coffee?"  
  
"Yes, please."  
  
When Momiji was gone, Rin's eyes opened and Hatori wondered how long she'd been awake. Probably, she'd been waiting for Momiji to leave. "How are you feeling?" Hatori asked, taking her hand. She was tall, but frail looking. Her strength wasn't like Kagura's, who was a strong, sturdy girl. Rin's strength was in her spirit, not her body. "You've been asleep for hours. It's nearly noon, now. You were hurt last night. Can you tell me what happened?"  
  
Rin didn't answer right away, no doubt trying to wake herself up properly. "My back hurts."  
  
"I know. You nearly broke it." How she'd gotten so lucky, Hatori couldn't imagine. If she'd landed just slightly differently, she might have broken her back or even her neck.   
  
Rin's eyes slid around the room, taking in the fact that she was in a hospital. Her eyes fell on Momiji's discarded cap. "Why is Momiji here?"  
  
"He gave blood. So did Hatsuharu."  
  
"I see." She pushed herself up on one elbow, though it obviously pained her, and her eyes went to where Hatsuharu was sleeping on his cot near the window. She stared at him for a long time. Whatever she was thinking, Rin kept to herself, lowering herself back down onto the pillow.  
  
"Will you tell me what happened?" Hatori pushed. He didn't want something going on in the family that he didn't know about. If nothing else, he had to tell Shigure what was going on.  
  
"Akito pushed me out the window." Rin said without hesitation. "I saw him when I was falling."  
  
Hatori knew she was telling the truth. Rin rarely ever lied and never about something important. Unlike Shigure, who enjoyed speaking in circles for hours before he got to the point, Rin never beat around the bush. "Do you know why?" It was entirely possible that Rin had just been walking down the corridor and Akito decided to push her. He didn't always have reasons for what he did anymore.  
  
"I was with Haru. That was all. When Haru left, I looked out the window to watch him leave and Akito pushed me out." Her mouth thinned into a narrow line. "I heard what you told Momiji. They won't be staying long. I have something to tell Haru and he won't like it. I want Momiji to walk Haru home to make sure he doesn't do something stupid."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"It's not really your business. Why don't you just leave?" She wasn't exactly trying to be rude, it just came so easy for her.  
  
"I do have to go, but I'll be back. Don't leave until I say it's safe. I need to look at your back again." He stood up. There was so much to get done. He hadn't wanted to leave until he knew Rin was awake and relatively comfortable, but now that he knew, he felt free to look after other important business.  
  
Rin didn't answer and turned her face away from Hatori.  
  
Almost as soon as Hatori closed the door of the Souma's private room behind him, his cell phone rang. It was Shigure.  
  
"Where are you, Ha-san?"  
  
"At the hospital. Akito pushed Rin out a window, she's been badly hurt. Please call the Main House and ask how Akito is. I don't have time to make my morning call on him. Is Kyou feeling better?"  
  
"This is no time for that, Ha-san." Shigure sounded anxious. "Can you come home right away?"  
  
"No. I have to..."  
  
"I know what you're going to do, but don't do it! Don't go after that man, Ha-san!"  
  
"You sound as if you learned something about him." Hatori held the phone closer to his ear and spoke softly so no one passing in the corridor would hear him. "What did you think? Did you see him?"  
  
"No." Shigure sounded...strange. Tense. "He'd gone by the time I got there. Is there anything else you can tell me? Did he mention where he lived or worked? Anything?."  
  
"No. Nothing other than the fact that he knew about the curse." If Shigure hadn't met the stranger, why was he so uptight?  
  
"Damn." Shigure swore so softly that Hatori almost missed it.  
  
"Do you know something I should know? He found out about the family. I have to take his memory, Shigure." He didn't tell Shigure about the mind numbing fear he felt at the idea of meeting the man again.  
  
"Don't!" Shigure nearly shouted. "Don't go near him, Ha-san! Promise me."   
  
"I can't."  
  
"You must, he's dangerous!"  
  
"I thought you didn't know anything about him. Shigure, what's going on?"  
  
"Trust me. I don't know anything I can tell you, but I know he's dangerous. Just leave him alone for now."  
  
"You know I can't do that. He knows about the family. I have my duty."  
  
"You don't understand..."  
  
Hatori hung up before Shigure could continue and turned off his phone. If Shigure wanted to play games, he would have to play another time. 'I haven't got time for mysteries. There's no time at all. I have to find Count D. Rin will be fine with Momiji and Hatsuharu looking after her and if Kyou was worse, Shigure would have told me.' He turned abruptly and walked away, determined to get rid Count D once and for all with Shigure's warning ringing in his ears.  
  
It was harder than Hatori had thought it would be to find the petshop he'd heard Count D talking about when he sat with them in Ayame's living room. The Count had mentioned his new petshop in the neighborhood, but Hatori found himself wandering in circles. It was on his third trip around the neighborhood that Hatori saw the little girl. She was a beautiful child with long black hair and an elaborate outfit. She was sitting on the side walk, crying.  
  
He debated for a moment on just passing the little girl by, but his soft heart got the better of him. "Are you hurt?" He bent down, but didn't touch the girl. He couldn't risk it. "What's your name?"  
  
When she looked up at him, Hatori blinked in surprise. Her eyes were unnaturally large and her ears were long and slanted.  
  
"We are called Hon Ron. You can call me Junrei." She sniffed loudly and her eyes watered. "I don't like being out here, but Shukou yelled at me for crying."  
  
"Who is Shukou?" Hatori asked. Hatori sat down on the sidewalk next to the little girl.  
  
"She is...me. But another me. Do you want to talk to her?"  
  
Hatori knew what was going on as soon as he heard it. The little girl suffered from split personality and he wondered how he should deal with this. Either that or she had complex imaginary friends. She may have run off from an asylum or from her home if her other personalities had told her to. She would be in great danger out here alone. "That's all right." Hatori smiled for her. "May I walk you home, Junrei-chan?"  
  
She shrank away from him. "Oh, I don't know. Leon-san tells us not to talk to strangers."  
  
"My name is Souma Hatori. It's nice to meet you. If you'd like, I can call a police officer to take you home, instead."  
  
She puzzled over that a moment, then closed her eyes. When she opened them, Hatori knew almost immediately that something had changed. The way she held herself changed. "We don't need any idiot police officers!" She exclaimed angrily, all traces of her shyness and insecurity gone. "We can take care of ourselves perfectly well and Junrei's being a baby because she's scared, that's all!"  
  
"I'm sorry." Hatori just then that he'd gone into psychology instead of medicine. "I don't think I know your name. Are you Shukou?"  
  
She snorted and tossed her hair back. "I'm Kanan."  
  
Kanan? Kana? The name was far to close to Kana's name and it sent a sharp pain through Hatori's heart. It had been more than a year ago that Kana had left, he should be used to the fact that she wasn't going to come back to him. But it hurt. He locked away the pain as best as he could, but hearing this small, obviously sick child speak the name of the only woman Hatori had ever given his heart to...it hurt so much.  
  
The little girl closed her eyes again and when she opened them, her face was serene and peaceful. "We're sorry to cause you pain, Souma-san. We give our utmost apologizes for your discomfort. We will leave you now, our thanks for your offer of help, but Kanan was correct. Junrei panicked because there were to many people on the streets a while ago. We can easily find our way again and are capable of looking after ourselves."  
  
"Shukou?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Can you tell me something, Shukou?"  
  
"I will try, if only to repay the pain we've unintentionally caused you."  
  
"Who is Hon Ron? Junrei said that you were all Hon Ron, yet you all have individual names."  
  
"We are all Hon Ron, it is just as you've said. We are three children who were born into one body. It is an awkward and long story, but it is the truth. I am Shukou. Kanan and I are strong personalities and we often battle for dominance, but Junrei is a child, in her heart. She never wishes to fight."  
  
"I find this all very...difficult."  
  
Shukou gave Hatori a sly, wicked smile. "More difficult than believing a man who has so deep connections to my people?"  
  
"Your people?" Hatori felt a chill run down his spine and a sudden urge to either draw Shukou into his lap and never let her go or to run away as fast as he could. Neither urge sat well with him, so he remained still.  
  
"Of course. We are Hon Ron. We are Red Dragon." She reached out and put a small hand on the side of Hatori's face. "I do feel it. Something calls us together, Souma-san. Something powerful and something old. Tell me, Souma-san, what are you called?"  
  
"My name is Hatori." He repeated himself.  
  
The little girl shook her head. "No. That will not do. I will call you Kaio Lung, the sleeping dragon. For though your years are greater in number than mine, your strength sleeps. I am also Kaio Lung, but my power grows as I rest in the safe den I have been given since my hatching. Where do you rest? Do you have safety? I think perhaps not. There are so few of us left in this world that I will not allow you to be in danger." She moved her hand to just next to his blind eye and Hatori flinched away as he did when anyone tried to touch that eye. "No," Honron seemed firm on this point. "No, I think you have no safe place to rest. I am not certain of what kind of dragon you are, but you are much like me. Come," Hon Ron stood and took Hatori's hand, giving it a gentle pull. "I will take you somewhere safe where you may grow."  
  
Hatori paled. She knew? How could this child know?! Her mind was confused, she had a split personality, so it was possible that she was just making it up.  
  
"I can't do that." Hatori told her, regretfully. If only the gentle child knew about him, she wouldn't want to even touch him. Still, he stood and gave her a small smile. "May I take you to your home? I think I'd worry if you were alone." That was the truth and this way, Hatori could find out what her living situation was. If she needed to be taken into custody, he'd be able to tell the proper authorities and make sure the little girl was safe.  
  
She regarded him with a superior gaze. "You may walk me home, but afterwards I would visit your home. I would see your home. I would see if your family takes care of you. It is the same that you wish to do for me, is it not? If I decide your family is unworthy of you, I will have you taken from them and given to one who is more capable of caring for you. Again, it is what you would do for me."  
  
"I'm an adult. You can't just have me taken away." Hatori wondered how the girl knew what he was thinking. She couldn't have read his mind; telepathy was nothing but a myth. Still, he was a man who turned into a sea horse and could steal memories. Who was he to say was myth and what was reality? "My family needs me and I won't leave them."  
  
"Oh? We shall see."  
  
To be continued...  
  
Dear readers, I was going to respond to all of your wonderful reviews this chapter, but this chapter grew a bit more than I'd intended. I'll answer reviews in the next chapter, promise. Hope you enjoy this chapter. 


	17. The Pain

Author's Note: The song Lyrics that go through Hatori's mind in this chapter are from Evanescence's, My Immortal. I love that song and it just screams 'Hatori'.  
  
Long Denied  
  
Chapter 17: This Pain  
  
Papa D-  
  
Papa D watched as his plans took shape, exactly as he wished them to. The cat was alone in it's home, now recovered from the dreams he had sent it. Papa D had wondered if the young cat would recover, but it proved resilient and only hours later was getting on with his life. When he concentrated, Papa D could see his newest instrument, Ren. She was, for the most part, unimportant. Her only real value lay in the distraction she would cause. Stealing the child would be enough to allow him to take the cat and get away before his child could do anything to stop him.  
  
'I will have to correct the cat, once I have him.' Papa D thought, turning his attention back to the cat. 'He's been to polluted by the filthy human blood in his veins. That is no real difficulty, though. I can easily rid him of his human blood.' Papa D smiled in anticipation. 'Soon, the source of power will be mine.'  
  
In her car, Ren still watched and waited, preparing for her part in Papa D's plans. All her dreams were tied to the child, Chris, and the bargain she'd struck with Papa D. Papa D had influenced her to a small degree, to make her feel certain she would get what she wanted if only she took the boy. Papa D couldn't care less who ruled the human Souma's and, if everything worked out properly, he would set her up as the head of her house. Of course, once she had her dream in her hand, she would no doubt face charges of kidnapping and then spend the next few years in prison before she was replaced as the head of her family. Because of Papa D's influence, Ren wasn't thinking of the consequences of her actions. All she could think of was how close she was to what she'd always wanted. She would take the human boy, Chris, at noon.   
  
'Then,' Papa D knew. 'Everything will happen today at midday.'  
  
  
  
6:00 am  
  
Yuki-  
  
Maybe Yuki had been wrong all along.  
  
"It was decided and they didn't even ask me!" Akito had screamed at Tohru  
  
"You must have been so scared."  
  
How could Tohru have seen something like that when Yuki had never known? Tohru, who'd only met Akito for a collective ten minutes in her whole life, had managed to find his trouble right away. It was times like that, with Tohru kneeling before Akito and being held down by her hair, that Yuki saw how incredible she really was. She was in pain and probably afraid and yet she'd been thinking only of Akito.   
  
Of course Yuki knew about Akito's part of the curse. It was the center of the universe for all the Juikyu.  
  
A woman had been paid to bear Akito. She had been a Souma and knew exactly why she was having a child, but the fortune she'd been paid was enough to ensure that she didn't love her baby. She bore the child and gave it up to the family, knowing that her child was fated to die for the family. The father was, supposedly, some passing man who'd easily been enticed into the woman's bedroom and left soon after. A child born from greed and lust and after that neither the mother or father had ever been seen again. What a sad beginning in life.  
  
'He was raised by my predecessor before she died. The rat before me.' Yuki understood now why Akito had sometimes called him Junko when he was little. Akito had loved Junko very much, from what Hatori had told him. That didn't mean Yuki liked Akito any better, he just understood more.  
  
So, why hadn't another of the cursed taken Akito and raised him after Junko's death? That was simple. Who would want to love and raise a child, knowing that they would die? Knowing that they would go mad?  
  
  
  
Only the Junikyu knew exactly what would happen to the head of the family, so why would they want to risk the pain of loving the head of the family? Akito had been given to one of the family not cursed, one who wouldn't feel the agony of his death so severely. At least, it was thought, someone who didn't know Akito would die at a young age wouldn't be so reluctant to love him.  
  
'That was a REAL good decision.' Yuki thought bitterly. Yuki hadn't known Ren well, but, from what he'd heard, she hadn't been any better than his foster mother. If that was the case, maybe Akito did have reason to be pitied.  
  
'Why didn't I ever think that he might be as miserable as I was? Am I really that heartless? No, it's just like I told Tohru, long ago. I'm selfish. I never thought of anyone but myself.' He'd never thought about how Akito felt, because he just didn't care. He'd never cared if Akito was scared or lonely. He'd always been to caught up in his own problems. 'I had to be selfish.' Yuki defended himself. 'No one else would help me. I had to take care of myself.' It seemed, with the memory of Tohru's suffering and her generous, giving nature, like very weak reasoning. 'Even my own brother didn't help me.' Even that seemed weak. Ayame barely knew him. Yuki knew he was kept separate from the rest of his family. He knew Ayame likely didn't have a chance to visit or see him. 'He was only my age when he realized I was being hurt. Would I have the courage if our positions were changed? Could I stand up against Akito for someone I barely knew?' Yuki liked to think that he would have the courage, but...he just wasn't sure.  
  
There was another problem that had kept Yuki up all night, other than his now confused opinion of Akito. Yuki's reaction to Kyou's transformation had surprised him more than he wanted to say.  
  
Yuki had tried to tell himself that it was nothing more than concern for Tohru that had sent him out that rainy night, chasing after Kyou. He had been worried that Tohru would be hurt or get lost in the darkness. He knew Kyou's true form was massively strong and in his irrational state, he could end up hurting Tohru by accident. 'But that wasn't the only reason I went after him.' Yuki had to admit to himself. 'I didn't go after him just for Tohru. I went for Kyou. I was worried about him, too.'  
  
Yuki would never forget the rain or the oppressive fog that had sunk in the night Kyou had unintentionally shown his true form to Tohru. It seemed like all the darkness of the Souma family had become real and the rain pouring down on them was their own misery.  
  
Kazuma was just using Tohru, Yuki knew that. He'd come to Shigure's house specifically to use Tohru to heal Kyou, though what Kazuma had planned could very well have broken Kyou. Even though Yuki knew what Kazuma intended to do, he didn't stop, or even warn Tohru. He'd watched her go out to the front yard and watched while Kazuma took the bracelet. Yuki and Kagura watched Kyou's terrible, painful transformation and they watched Tohru's horrified face as she watched her friend turn into a monster before her eyes.  
  
'I wanted hope.' Yuki thought. 'I care for Tohru very much, but if she could help Kyou, then perhaps there was hope for the rest of us. If I was I was a good person, I would have warned her. I wanted her to save me. I used her as much as Kazuma did.' Yuki hated himself for that. He'd always thought that he would never do anything to hurt her, but he was selfish. Always thinking of himself and never of her.  
  
Everyone had known what Kazuma was going to do, it seemed, except for Kyou and Tohru. Kagura had known, she'd come to Shigure's house just to support Kyou if Tohru failed. Akito had known. Yuki heard that Akito had met Tohru in the forest while she was looking for Kyou. Kazuma didn't seem like the type to let anyone in on his intentions, but somehow, everyone had found out and had been waiting to see what would happen. They waited to see if Tohru would fail them.  
  
Tohru had not failed. She went after Kyou and, with a little help from Yuki, had brought him home. She'd accepted Kyou when even Kyou's own mother hadn't been able to. She saw goodness in Akito when his own family couldn't. What did that say about Tohru's capacity for love?  
  
'I went after Kyou.' Yuki stared at the ceiling of his bedroom with his hands resting under his head. 'I never would have gone after him before.' He hadn't intended to. He'd thought that he would just watch and wait from the house, like everyone else. Before he knew what he was doing, Yuki was out in the rain chasing after Tohru and Kyou.  
  
Yuki yawned and rolled over onto his side as he pondered the past few days. It had only been a few days since Kazuma had left for his dojo again, leaving Kyou behind. The next few days had been relatively quiet, before Kyou's terrible nightmare a few hours ago. It was no wonder that Kyou would have nightmares after what he'd gone thought, thought it seemed very out of character to Yuki To see Kyou screaming like that...it just wasn't right. It wasn't natural.  
  
It had been nothing but a nightmare caused by Kyou's sickness, but Yuki hadn't been able to sleep again, even after he'd reassured Tohru and urged her to get some sleep.   
  
'I went after him in the forest. I...worried for him. I was worried for him again, tonight.' It wasn't really all that strange, they were cousins after all and Yuki had known Kyou for most of his life, but Yuki had never really cared that much about Kyou. 'I never cared about anyone except myself.' Yuki had known all his life that it was expected that he hate Kyou, just as it was expected that Kyou would hate Yuki. Everyone expected it and accepted it. Jokes were make about it in the family and, it seemed to Yuki, at every family gathering, people watched and waited for the fighting to begin.  
  
So...when had Yuki stop hating Kyou? 'I wonder if I ever really did hate him. I wouldn't want to help or comfort someone I hated. Sure, he makes me angry. He knows all the right buttons to push that irritate me. I never did understand why he wants to be 'in' the family, but that's not hate, is it?' This was the first time Yuki had ever actually thought about his relationship with Kyou. 'It all really stared when he suddenly got it into his head that he had to beat me to get into the family. I don't know why it got so urgent all of a sudden. One day, it was as if his time was running out.' Of course, time was running out.  
  
Yuki shied away from that thought, too. There were so many things he didn't want to face. He would have to, very soon. Graduation was quickly approaching. How was he going to tell Tohru why Kyou would leave them the day of graduation? How could he face her and tell her that she would probably never see Kyou again? Everyone knew about the doom of the cat. Kyou would be locked into seclusion. That was just the way it was.  
  
"Who said it has to be that way?" Kagura's voice echoed back at Yuki. She'd said the same thing that rainy night when Yuki had chased after Kyou and Tohru. Yuki didn't know the answer.  
  
Yuki paused his thoughts as he listened to the door across the hall, Kyou's bedroom door, open and then close very softly. He heard Hatori quietly walked down the hallway and start down the stairs. Yuki knew it was Hatori leaving Kyou's room because he'd heard when Hatori had come in and because Kyou never walked so softly unless he was sneaking up on someone. Earlier in the night, Yuki had heard Shigure's phone conversation with Hatori and knew that Shigure had left and Hatori had taken his place.  
  
'I supposed that no one knows I'm awake. Maybe I shouldn't be so worried about everything. It's good that I stop hating Kyou. Tohru and Shigure will be happy if there's less fighting.' Hating Kyou had been a major part of Yuki's life and if that hate stopped, Yuki wasn't sure what that would mean. Perhaps nothing would change. Kyou still did a lot of things that made Yuki angry and the cat's terrible temper wouldn't change. They could probably go on fighting just as they always had. In a way, Yuki rather enjoyed fighting with Kyou. It was a nice way to relieve stress and he knew he couldn't hurt Kyou, not really. Except for Kyou, Yuki couldn't fight anyone without worrying that he would hurt them.  
  
A soft noise caught Yuki's attention.  
  
'I don't want to get up.' It seemed completely unnatural to get out of bed when it was still dark outside. 'It's far to early to even set foot out of bed.'  
  
Music tickled at Yuki's ears and he wondered if Tohru had the radio on downstairs. The voice sounded familiar, but Yuki couldn't quite place it. He wasn't much of a music love, but...this he liked. With his curiosity finally getting the better of him, Yuki crawled out of bed and pulled on his bathrobe, thankful that it was Sunday. He wouldn't have to deal with school, so maybe he could go back to sleep after he found out where the music was coming from.  
  
It was Tohru and that woke Yuki up in an instant. He recognized her voice only when he saw Hatori standing at the doorway of the kitchen, but it made Yuki freeze. The entire world fell away and the only thing Yuki was aware of was the angelic sound of Tohru's voice.  
  
Yuki was crying.  
  
He didn't care. Her voice...it pierced his heart. It made everything that was ever painful or hurtful in his life melt away into nothing. Like heaven come to Earth, Tohru's voice was paradise. Yuki raised a hand to his mouth when he felt a sob rise in his throat and he feared that any noise would break the spell Tohru's voice wove.  
  
Of course, Hatori interrupted Tohru to speak with her and, for just a brief moment, Yuki wanted to kill Hatori.  
  
Hatori left the house but Tohru didn't start singing again, so Yuki went back up to his room. This time, his mind was filled not with rain and confusion but with Tohru's voice. He sat in his room for a long time, not even bothering to lay down, and Yuki smiled.  
  
It was hours later before Yuki finally decided it was time to get up and start the day.  
  
"I have a long day." Yuki thought as he started to get dressed. "I told myself that I'd do it today." He dressed in plain black trousers with a red shirt and made sure he looked relatively neat and presentable. First impressions were important after all. Today was the day he went job hunting for the first time. 'I'll find a good job and I'll do what Tohru's done. I'll save my money and after graduation, I'll be able to take care of myself. I'd like to go to college, maybe. Perhaps I'll study botany. I won't ever ask Akito for money again. I won't even have to ask Shigure.'  
  
He was strong enough, now. The night Tohru had confronted Akito had proved that to Yuki. When Akito looked as if he might hurt Tohru, Yuki had jumped up without thinking and helped Shigure to restrain Akito. 'I stood up against him.' A proud smiled played at Yuki's lips. It might not have seemed like a big thing to anyone else, but to Yuki, the whole world seemed to change in that moment.  
  
Yuki had great hopes, as well as great fears, about what this day would bring. A job. A real, honest to goodness job where Yuki could earn his own money. He could be like Kazuma and not be dependent on the family money. It would be another step away from the family...away from Akito.  
  
Yuki mulled over that last thought as he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He just couldn't decide how he felt about Akito. Everyone knew, everyone believed, that Yuki hated Akito. Akito was the greatest fear in Yuki's life, true, but....  
  
*Yuki, come play with me. Please?*  
  
Akito had been kind once. Yuki had several memories, tattered and faded from the passage of time, of Akito that weren't filled with pain. Akito had always been selfish and demanding, but he hadn't always been cruel. Yuki's mind raced back to one of his few happy childhood memories when he'd gone to play with Akito. The older boy had been happy to see him and one day they'd played catch in Akito's garden with a large rubber ball. It had been fun.  
  
'No, no! I won't feel badly for him.' Yuki's face set with determination. 'No matter what he was like once, he's different now. Even if he did have a moment's pity and he didn't hurt Tohru, Akito is still dangerous. He's insane and could come to hurt Tohru any time. I have to get away from him.' He'd get a part-time job and work for his own money, like Tohru did. He'd save up for his own apartment after high school and get a full-time job, something that wasn't owned or controlled by the Souma family.  
  
Yuki looked down as he thought and his eyes fell to the still full laundry hamper. GASP! Yuki dropped his toothbrush with shock at what lay on the top of the pile. Yuki had been having a good morning. He'd even been starting to soften his attitude about his brother, but no longer. His anger at Ayame came back in full force at the sight of flowery underwear right on the top of the heap of clothes Tohru would be washing. 'He just left them here?' Yuki picked up the offensive THING as fire started to burn at his mind. 'He left work for Tohru without telling anyone he was here? How dare he! That...that arrogant snake!' A buried part of Yuki's mind wondered if he was angry that his brother was making more work for poor Tohru or if he was angry Ayame hadn't said hello to him while he was near.  
  
10:30am  
  
Leon-  
  
Leon's dream-  
  
A baby was crying.  
  
Murakai was sleeping on D's sofa, but it didn't seem at all odd. Leon was standing behind the sofa and looking down at Murakai's peaceful face. For once, Leon couldn't smell the eternal burning incense of the petshop and it made him nervous. The petshop was still as dark as always, the darkness hiding things that Leon really thought he ought to see.  
  
"D? Where are you?" Leon called. He couldn't move his feet. "D?" Leon's voice echoed off walls Leon couldn't see and called back at him, mockingly. It seemed as if nothing existed in the room but the sofa, the sleeping Murakai, and Leon. Added to his echoing voice, Leon could hear growls and cries of the animals he couldn't see. Leon said, "Go find D. I wanna talk to him." He knew the animals could understand him, but none of them answered him.  
  
"Big brother."  
  
Leon looked down and found his little brother sitting on his knees next to the sofa and Murakai. "Chris? Where's D?" It didn't seem strange to Leon that Chris was talking. Really talking. He loved Chris and saw in his little brother what he might have been. Chris was sweet, innocent, and loving. He was the kindest person Leon knew and, someday, Leon expected to see great things from Chris. He wouldn't be stuck in a dead-end job working for minimum wage. He wouldn't be like Leon. He wanted to give Chris everything.  
  
Instead of answering, Chris put his little hand on Murakai's face. "Don't wake him up, big brother." Chris said, softly. "He's happier, now."  
  
"How do you know?" Leon wanted to reach out for Chris, but his arms wouldn't move anymore than his legs would. This was so strange.  
  
"He was so unhappy. Why did they do this to him, big brother? Why did they hurt him?" When Chris looked up at Leon, his eyes were confused "It's not fair. He didn't do anything bad."  
  
"No, he didn't." Leon didn't know how to explain this to Chris, he didn't want to scare his little brother. "Bad things happen, Chris. Murakai was very unlucky."  
  
"What if it was me? What if I was unlucky?" Chris looked back at Murakai. "He won't wake up again."  
  
"I won't let it happen to you, Chris."   
  
The room grew brighter, but Leon only then realized that it wasn't the petshop. It was some terrible cell, like an old prison from a black and white movie. It was cold, but now lit by a single fluorescent light bulb that dangled precariously from a wire in the center of the ceiling. Chris still sat on D's red sofa next to the sleeping Murakai, but everything else had changed. "Big brother, I don't want to be like this."  
  
There were children everywhere. Thin and starved like those children from destitute countries that was always on the TV commercials. Arms and legs like twigs and hollowed, haunted eyes and all of them dressed in rags. Some of the children were half-grown, nearly teenagers, but their eyes were all dead. All those eyes were fixed on Leon, waiting. He knew who they were. Each one was marked with a black scorpion on their chest, just over their hearts.   
  
"Who put you here?" Leon asked. Horror. That was all Leon could think of. He was terrified, not for himself, but that he could do nothing to save these children. He felt like he was going to be sick. "Who did this to you?" None of them answered, but continued to stare at him with empty eyes. "Are you hungry?" What good would that do? Even if he could move, Leon knew he had nothing to give them.  
  
The baby was still crying. Leon looked down and saw the baby. Its face was red from crying and great tears ran down its cheeks as it swung its arms around its head. It was right at Leon's feet. "Don't cry." Leon urged, feeling his heart go out to the baby. "I'll save you."  
  
"How?" Chris asked. "How can you save it if you can't even move? You can't do anything."  
  
"Well, you pick it up." Leon told Chris. "You can't just let a baby cry."  
  
"I can't do anything, either. I'm dead." Blood oozed down Chris' face, dripping off his chin. There was a wound in his temple, a bullet hole.  
  
"Chris! Fuck! What the Hell happened?!" Leon shouted. He still couldn't move. There was nothing he could do and Chris started to cry, too. "Come here!"  
  
"I'm dead, big brother. Why did you bring us here? Why didn't you tell the Count what you were doing? You knew he'd worry about you, he always does. Look. Look what you did." Chris raised one arm and pointed. When Leon followed Chris' pointing finger he saw more bodies, littered among the starving children. Jill lay face down on the floor, her face obscured by her bouncy hair. D...D was half-propped up against a wall, his eyes wide open, even in death. "You killed us, big brother."  
  
"I didn't." Leon shook his head, feeling faint as he looked at his partner, his brother, and...and D. "I never wanted this."  
  
"You should have told the truth, big brother." Chris lay down next to Murakai on the sofa. "I'm going to sleep now. I'll never wake up, just like Murakai. Goodbye, big brother."  
  
End dream-  
  
It was late in the morning when Leon woke, shaken out of his sleep by the nightmare. He was sweating and shaking uncontrollably. 'Oh, God.' Leon hugged himself and took a deep breath. 'It was just a dream. That's all.' But he felt his determination strengthen. 'I will find Black Scorpion. I will find them and I'll stop them. I won't let them hurt any more children.' Though now Leon had the extra worry of making sure that D, Chris, and Jill weren't hurt. It was going to take some work.  
  
After a short time, Leon was dressed and in Ayame's little kitchen, sipping at his coffee. He'd have to go see D, today. After all, he'd have to make sure Chris was safe and there were a few questions he wanted to ask, though he knew D wouldn't give him any answers.  
  
"So," Leon grinned at the sight of Jill staggering into Ayame's small kitchen and slumping down at the table. "Did you have a nice sleep last night?"  
  
Jill looked at Leon from under her messy curls and growled, "Shut it." Though her face did darken nicely with a blush. "Where the Hell's my coffee?" Jill definitely wasn't a morning person.  
  
"Here." Leon passed a mug of coffee, he'd already poured for her. He'd never seen Jill look so, casual. He'd seen her worn to the point of exhaustion from work and he'd seen her on off days in nothing but sweat pants and that T-shirt she had with the stains all over it, but this was almost strange. She was dressed in nothing but her bathrobe and, when she crossed her legs without thinking, Leon realized that she was wearing nothing under it. 'Wow...' Leon turned his eyes quickly up to Jill's face. That was a part of his partner Leon really didn't want to think about.  
  
"You make lousy coffee, Leon." Jill grumbled.  
  
Leon was just thankful that she hadn't caught him staring at her legs. "D says the same thing, he won't even touch it." Leon made his grin as irritating as possible. "I was wondering where your new friend is. She didn't leave you last night, did she?"  
  
"You're pushing your luck, Orcot."  
  
Leon didn't feel at all guilty. Jill deserved nothing less for all the teasing he'd gotten about D. Speaking of which... "I'm going to see D in a bit. I don't suppose I'll get any straight answers from him, but I ought to try."  
  
"I guess. Hey, does he know why we're here? Have you told him about Black Scorpion?"  
  
Leon shrugged. "He knows enough." D was nearly one of Murakai's victims, after all. He'd actually been the boy's prisoner before he was able to slip some kind of drug into the kid's drink and knocked him up. Strangely, the boy had never woken up, though the doctors had declared it was nothing to do with D's drug, whatever it was. It was trauma that had put the boy into an endless sleep. Leon had never been more grateful for D's friendship than that day when D had saved Chris' life. If D hadn't been there that day and Chris had been alone when Murakai had stumbled into the petshop...  
  
Such terrible thoughts. What if Murakai hadn't hesitated when he entered the petshop? What if he had killed Chris and D? Leon didn't even like to think about what the injured and confused Murakai could have done.  
  
"How much is enough?" Jill asked, bringing Leon out of his dismal thoughts. "Is he going to be in danger now that he's here?" As always, Jill was nothing if not practical. "What about Chris. He thinks you're here on vacation, so he's going to want to spend time with you, isn't he? We're here on our own, Leon. No back up and no official status. I have no idea where we're going hunting for Black Scorpion, but I'm pretty sure we don't want to drag them into this."  
  
Leon didn't reply. He and Jill thought pretty much along the same lines and he'd already been thinking the same things. "I have a starting place, but it's going to take some delicate work." Leon set his coffee cup down on the little table and leaned forward, closer to Jill. "Ritsu said his cousin had a tattoo of a Black Scorpion on his chest, but that it wasn't Ayame. His name's Kureno. Ayame told me that nearly his entire family lives at a huge estate somewhere nearby, on the edge of the city. I'm going there, I want to talk to Kureno."  
  
"Right." Jill set her now empty coffee cup down. "So, where's this estate? We can leave as soon as I'm dressed."  
  
"Er..." Leon couldn't quite meet her eyes. "I don't know." After his terrible dream, Leon didn't want to let even Jill help him. He couldn't let her get hurt anymore than he would let D or Chris get hurt.  
  
"What? Didn't you ask Ayame?"  
  
"Of course I did, but he wouldn't tell me. I don't even know why, but he kept changing the subject whenever I asked."  
  
"Sounds as if he's got something to hide."  
  
"He's not lying to me." Leon didn't like to think that Ayame would have something to hide from him. They'd never lied to each other about anything. Leon liked to think Ayame just didn't know his cousin could be Black Scorpion. Ayame was obviously a good, innocent man and Leon still wasn't sure he liked the rest of Ayame's family. So far he'd only met two of Ayame's cousins, plus Ritsu, and Ritsu was the only one Leon liked at all. The first one, Hatori, seemed so cold and stiff that he just set Leon off for some reason. That Shigure made Leon want to strangle him for no good reason.  
  
'No, there is a reason.' Leon's thoughts went back to the late night meeting with Ayame's black haired cousin who'd come in shortly after Hatori had left. Shigure was pleasant, out-going, with a winning smile and an apparently sunny disposition. He was also quick-witted and was hiding something. In fact, if Leon was prone to gamboling, he would bet money that Shigure was hiding quite a few secrets. 'He's smart. He knows he's smart. He was looking for something here. I know why I wanted to strangle him. It's the same reason I wanted to strangle D when I first met him. He's too self-confident.' Leon shuddered at the idea that Ayame's weird cousin reminded him so much of D.  
  
"I didn't say he was dishonest. Everyone hides something, Leon. I just mean..."  
  
SLAM! SLAM!  
  
Jill and Leon both looked up when a door downstairs slammed open and then closed again before they heard furious shouting and stomping footsteps marching up the stairs that led directly to where Leon and Jill were sitting.  
  
"I can't stand it anymore!" A young voice shouted. "If you have to visit Shigure, at least have the decency to take your underwear home! Honda-san shouldn't have to even look at these disgusting things, let alone wash them! You don't even live with us, idiot snake!"  
  
Jill and Leon exchanged puzzled looks, then turned back to the door and waited for whoever it was.  
  
The kitchen door swung violently open and revealed a young teenage boy with shaggy silver grey hair and angry purple eyes. He was dressed in black trousers, which had been ironed to a crisp crease, and a fine mandarin style shirt. The boy was extremely thin and looked as if he'd break in a harsh breeze. He was also carrying a pair of men's boxer shorts decorated with pink roses.  
  
The boy followed Leon and Jill's gazes down to the boxer shorts in his hand before he thrust them behind his back and had the good grace to blush. Still, he managed to get a hold of himself quickly. "I'm looking for my brother." He said this with an air of great dignity, which was very hard for a teenage boy who was hiding a pair of underwear behind his back in front of two strangers, one of them a half-dressed woman. Leon almost had to pity the kid. "Ayame?"  
  
"Brother?" Leon blinked, then smiled when realization hit him. "Hey!" He shouted, pounding on the table, he was so pleased with his discovery. "You must be Yuki. Right? You look just like Ayame described." The resemblance was incredible, Leon noted. This boy's hair was slightly darker than Ayame's silver hair and his eyes were a different color, but other than that, they were identical.  
  
The boy smiled coolly. "Well, yes. May I ask your name? I'm afraid I didn't know my brother had guests this morning." He paused, looking from Leon to Jill and seemed to linger on Jill's bare legs. "My brother is here, isn't he?" Obviously, some very X-rated thoughts were running through the boy's mind, considering the blush that grew on his cheeks when he turned his eyes away from Jill all of a sudden.  
  
While Jill either hadn't noticed or cared about Leon looking at her legs, she did notice now. Jill's eyes sprung open and she shot a glare at the boy while she uncrossed her legs and straightened her bathrobe. "No, he isn't!"  
  
"But I am!" A chirpy voice cried. Everyone looked up to the door Jill had walked through just a few moments ago to see Mine-chan bouncing out with a spring in her step. She was wearing nothing but a sheer pink negligee that left absolutely -nothing- to the imagination. "Hi, Yuki-kun!"  
  
"Good morning, Mine-chan." Yuki put a hand to his eyes and turned away, the blush threatening to burn his face. He was incredibly embarrassed, but didn't seem very surprised.  
  
Jill, on the other hand, was mortified. "What are you doing?!?" Jill jumped up and ran to Mine-chan and started to push her out of the room. "Have you no modesty? Get some clothes on! There's a child here, for God's sakes!"  
  
Mine-chan was stronger than she looked and actually fought Jill for a moment, seeming to find it very entertaining. "Child? Oh, you mean Yuki-kun. Hee, hee. He's not a child, he's the boss's little brother. The boss is at the estate, Yuki-kun." She called, even as Jill forced her out of the room. "It was nice to see you again. Bring Honda-san, next time you visit!" She giggled again when Jill finally forced her though the door and the last thing Leon heard from her was, "Why, Jill-chan..." Then their voices faded away and Leon was left with a very awkward looking young man.  
  
Leon broke the silence when he realized this was probably going to be his only chance to get away from Jill. "Hey, kid. Could you do me a favor?"  
  
"Possibly." Yuki replied coolly while he tossed the boxer shorts onto the kitchen counter with a look of mild disgust.  
  
"I need to talk to Ayame, but he's at that estate. He forgot to tell me how to reach him, think you could show me the way?"  
  
"I suppose so. Wouldn't it be easier to use the telephone? I can give you the number of the place he is most likely staying at."  
  
"Naw, I really wanted to talk to him in person. It's kind of important." Leon tried his best to look calm as he asked, but this was his best hope of finding Kureno. If he could find the estate, then it should be easy enough to snoop around a little.  
  
"Well, I can't take you there." Yuki began slowly. "But I can give you directions. I can't guarantee that you'll be allowed in, though. They're very particular about who is allowed onto the estate."  
  
"I'll worry about that when I get there." Leon assured him with a pleasant, if eager smile. If he had to, Leon was quite willing to break into the estate. He'd do anything to make sure no child ever ended up like Murakai again.  
  
As Yuki scribbled down directions to the estate on a piece of paper, Leon decided that once this was all over, he would help Ayame out with Yuki. After all, if it hadn't been for Ayame, Leon might never have had the chance to get to know Chris. It was thanks to Ayame's advice that Leon had chosen to keep Chris instead of sending him to that institute. Ayame had told Leon how painful it was to lose someone you should be so close to.  
  
10:00am  
  
Hon Ron-  
  
"Watch your step." Hatori put a hand on Hon Ron's shoulder and pulled her slightly away from the street when a car came dangerously close to the sidewalk.  
  
Hon Ron was surprised, at first, about Hatori's gentle nature. He was very quiet, but had such great compassion lurking under his cold exterior. "Will you stay at my home, Kaio Lung? I'm sure you'll like it. Everyone who lives at my home likes it."  
  
"I have my own home, Junrei-chan." He said without looking at her. He was a very precise seeming man, his clothes, his hair, his manner were all perfect. The only thing that appeared to be out of place was his missing eye and Hon Ron only noticed that because Hatori's balance was off. He constantly kept his head tilted slightly to the side, allowing him to see out of his good eye. "My family depends on me."  
  
"Then why don't you seem happy?"  
  
Hatori didn't answer.  
  
'Shukou, you talk to him.' Junrei said to her more mature self. 'I don't know the words. He's so unhappy.'  
  
Deep in their shared mind, where the three of them lived together, Shukou refused. 'You don't need the words and he doesn't need to be told anything. He already knows.' Shukou was as gentle and caring as Count D himself. 'He will come to his own conclusions soon enough and he'll find the answers he needs.'  
  
Kanan agreed. 'He's not stupid! Even a child like you can see that, Junrei. He thinks he's responsible for his own troubles, so let him be. He's not the kind of man who'd thank you for fixing his problems.'  
  
'But I don't like seeing him so unhappy.' Junrei wailed. 'He's nice, I like him!'  
  
'So do we.' Shukou reassured Junrei. 'That's why we're bringing him to the Count. Don't worry. This will make everything better.'  
  
Junrei looked up at Hatori as they walked along. 'I hope so.' She'd met so few dragons in her sheltered life, but it was easy to tell Hatori was like her. She could feel his blood singing to her. It was as if she was walking next to pure music and she loved it. Impulsively, Hon Ron seized Hatori's hand and squeezed it tightly. 'He sounds so beautiful.' It was as if Hon Ron could hear Hatori's true self and she almost missed his shocked expression. 'Why does he look so surprised?'  
  
Kanan answered, 'The Count's very interested in him. Why else would he have sent us to get him? Just get him home and I'm sure the Count will take care of him.'  
  
Shukuo's words were the most comfort to Junrei, though. 'If Hatori's home is unsuitable, I am certain Count D will allow him to live with us. For now, do not press yourself on Hatori. I think this will be a hard day for him.'  
  
'Why?' Junrei asked.  
  
'Count D would not wish him in our home without a reason. Let the issue go of seeing his home. Count D will take care of Kaio Lung.'  
  
Hon Ron was exactly what she said she was, a dragon. She was justifiably proud of being Count D's favorite dragon. He'd cared for her for sixty years while she waited to hatch, safe and happy in a small locked box in Count D's care. It was Leon who'd helped to hatch Hon Ron and she'd never forget his role in her life. Kanan came from Leon most of all, she'd inherited his volatile temperament. Just before her hatching, Hon Ron had become aware. Strong hands were holding her and running. The person holding her was nervous, so terribly worried. She'd hatched the moment Leon had thrown her into the air above the sea, coming into life in a great flash of light. Later, Count D had found her and brought her back to the petshop.  
  
Her other form was far more impressive than the one she currently wore for the benefit of her companion. A three headed dragon that was a mix of European and oriental dragon's; Hon Ron was the world's only half-breed. Only a year old, Hon Ron was a baby of a dragon, though her dragon form was immense and her humanoid form looked nearly eight years old. It was barely a year since she'd hatched in the hands of her mama, Leon. That was what Count D had always told Hon Ron, that Leon was her mama because Leon had helped to shape her development and personality. It didn't matter that Hon Ron had never properly met Leon or that he didn't even know she really existed. He was apart of her.  
  
"Where is your home, exactly?"  
  
Hon Ron looked up at her tall companion and it was Junrei who answered. "Close. The Count didn't want anyone to find it. He sort of hid it. You wouldn't be able to find it if I didn't show you where it was."  
  
"He hid your home?" Before Junrei could answer, Hatori looked at them sharply. "Count? Count D?"  
  
"Yes." Junrei smiled and pressed Hatori's hand to her cheek. "You didn't think it was an accident that I met you out here, did you?" She liked him very much. "Count D asked me to find you and bring you home."  
  
"How do you know Count D?"  
  
It was a silly question, but Hatori didn't know that. It was Count D who had sent Hon Ron out to find Hatori. She remembered his instructions quite well. That a man would be looking for the petshop and Hon Ron was to lead him there. The Count hadn't mentioned that the person she would be looking for was a dragon. "You wanted to see our home, did you not? Count D is master of our home." This time it was Shukou who spoke. "This was the only way. What's wrong?"  
  
Hatori had stopped very suddenly and was no longer looking at Hon Ron. He said nothing, so Hon Ron followed his gaze and saw that he was looking at a young man and a girl talking. The young man was tall with neatly kept blonde hair and well-dressed. The young woman wore an apron and apparently worked in the small store they were standing in front of. She was pretty with straight, bleached blonde hair that was pinned to the back of her head, though long strands escaped to frame her face.  
  
"I'm sorry. I can't come tomorrow." The young man said with a soft, regretful voice. "Something's come up in the family."  
  
"But, Kureno, tomorrow we were...oh, never mind." The young woman stopped herself and smiled, putting a hand to the side of her head and dug her fingers into her hair. "Don't worry about it. I guess it must be important. Gotta take care of family business, after all."  
  
"You aren't mad, are you, Arissa-kun?"  
  
"Don't be stupid. Mad? Jesus, we only met yesterday and it's only a movie!" She looked away, but as she did, she faced Hon Ron and Hatori more fully and Hon Ron could see the hurt on her face that she obviously didn't want the young man to see. "We can go another time, right?" When she turned back to him, she wore a bright smile.  
  
"I'd like to, but I don't know when I can get away. One of my cousins had an accident. I have to...make arrangements. I have heavy responsibilities to my family. I think I can find one of my cousins to take care of things for the day, though. If not tomorrow, then another day. I...have never met anyone like you, Arissa-kun."  
  
Hatori watched it all with a blank expression. "I didn't expect this." He muttered when Kureno began to walk away and the girl walked back into the store. He's gone pale and his hand tightened around Hon Ron's. "I'll have to tell Shigure."  
  
"Is this bad?" Junrei asked, worried for Hatori.  
  
"Bad?" He looked down at her, as if surprised to find that he wasn't alone. "No. Not exactly. I will need to speak with him, though. After Count D."  
  
Junrei couldn't agree more. "You'll like Count D. He's very kind."  
  
"Perhaps."  
  
Hatori-  
  
The last person Hatori thought he'd have to worry about in a relationship with an outsider was Kureno. If nothing else, he wouldn't have thought that Kureno would find the time to meet a girl, he was so attached to Akito. Hatori should have known better. Even with his horrific background, Kureno was still human. Of course he would crave a loving relationship. 'Maybe he needs it even more because of his past.' He watched Kureno and Arissa Uotani, Tohru's friend, part ways and felt his heart go out to his cousin. Not for now, but for the future. 'It isn't fair. He won't be able to stay with her. No more than I could stay with Kana.' He could also pity the girl, Arissa. She was a young girl falling in love for, probably, the first time. No doubt, she was frightened and worried about everything. It wasn't fair that she wouldn't be able to have the young man she wished for. She'd suffer for something that wasn't even her fault.  
  
Kureno was clearly following the same path that Hatori had walked not long ago. The path that had ripped his heart apart.  
  
"Kaio Lung, we should go." Junrei pulled at Hatori's hand, urging him on. "It's just around the corner."  
  
Hatori followed the child willingly. He could only handle so many problems at once and this should be the easiest. All he had to do was what he'd been doing his whole life. Slip into the mind of Count D and steal a few memories. Simple, right? He'd done it a thousand times before.  
  
Hon Ron led Hatori into a dark alley and to a door. It was a nondescript and plain, but Hatori paused when Hon Ron pulled open the door. He couldn't see anything inside, but part of a stairway that led down into darkness. Hon Ron pulled at Hatori's hand. "Come on. Don't worry, I won't let anything hurt you."  
  
Hatori was getting better at telling the three personalities apart, simply from the facial expressions. "Thank you, Junrei-chan." He gave her a little smile, but his mind still lingered on the man who waited at the bottom of the stairs. He'd hoped that Shigure could have provided some kind of insight into Count D or find out how he'd found out about the curse. Ritsu surely hadn't made a mistake, he'd have confided in Ayame the moment he'd gotten home and Ayame would have told Hatori.  
  
Another squeeze on his hand and Hatori looked down at Hon Ron's sweet smile. "You're worrying again, aren't you?" Impulsively, Hon Ron threw her arms around Hatori and hugged him tightly. "You really don't have to. I won't let anyone hurt you again, Kaio Lung." With that she released Hatori's hand and stepped easily through the doorway and descended into the darkness, leaving Hatori to either follow or leave. It was his choice.  
  
'She...hugged me. Nothing happened.' Hatori's mind had stalled as he took that in. The child was definitely a girl, there was no doubt. So it wasn't possible. Yet, there he stood, still human. Hatori looked down into the darkness, but Hon Ron had already vanished. 'Logically, either she isn't a girl, which I'm sure she is, or...she isn't human.' Hatori didn't immediately dismiss that idea. Speaking very technically, Hatori wasn't exactly human, either. He knew there was magic in the world, so it was possible that Hon Ron wasn't human, either. 'She said she was a dragon. I wonder...No.' Hatori put a hand to his face and rubbed his eyes. 'My mind's playing tricks on me. I need to sleep. She's just a little girl. She doesn't know anything and she's not dangerous. She didn't just hug me.'  
  
Hatori started down the stairway. No matter what was going on, he had work to do. As he went down the stairway, Hatori heard a voice speaking and it kept getting louder until he came to the bottom of the stairs. At the very bottom of the stairs were two large doors that opened inward and, around the edges of the doors shone a light from the other side. Hatori lightly pushed on the doors and the voice inside came to him very clearly. A strong smell hit him almost at once. Incense.  
  
"Yes, Leon. No, nothing out of the ordinary. Of course. Shall I give you directions? My new shop is difficult to find, if you don't know where to look. Why, I believe that one could look all night and not find it." Count D stood near a red velvet sofa, looking unreal in the dim light. As he spoke on the phone, Count D turned slightly to look at Hatori and acknowledge his presence with a soft smile. "I really must be going, Leon. Yes, I have a customer."  
  
Hatori looked around and took in as much information as he could. Hon Ron stood at Count D's side, waiting patiently with her eyes fixed on Count D. She turned to Hatori and put a finger to her lips, signaling him to be silent while Count D spoke.  
  
There was none of the overpowering fear that Hatori had felt at the airport, but Hatori thought nothing of it. The smell of incense was making him drowsy, so Hatori knew he would have to make this fast. Faster was better, then his victim would never know what hit them.  
  
Count D hung up the telephone with an audible click before he turned his eyes to look at Hatori. "Greetings. I'm so pleased my darling child was able to find you, Souma-san." He put one of his delicately painted hands on Hon Ron's head, patting her as one might a pet. "You've done well, Hon Ron."  
  
"Thank you, Count." She bowed respectfully to him.   
  
Hatori barely heard the conversation, he was so focused on the purpose for his visit. He waited until Count D's back was towards him before he quietly slipped in behind him and put a hand over Count D's eyes. He did the same thing he'd always done, ease open his target's mind and steal the offending memories. Only...this time...it didn't work.  
  
Pain lashed into Hatori's mind, as if feedback were bouncing off Count D's mind and into Hatori's. He staggered away from Count D, his hands pressed to his face as he struggled to breathe and his knees gave way. 'I failed. It didn't work.' Hatori fell, his elbows striking the floor, but it was nothing compared to the pain he'd felt when he tried to enter Count D's mind. It was like a goldfish trying to attack a shark, foolish at best.  
  
"You shouldn't have done that." Shukou said softly, her voice coming to Hatori through the pain. "You aren't strong enough." Her little hand patted Hatori's head, but he didn't have the energy to move away from her. He just lay on the floor and waited until he could see straight. When he finally managed to look up, Hatori found Count D smiling down at him, benevolently.  
  
"How interesting. The dragon's ability to influence the mind has been much decreased, but some measure of talent still remains." He seemed more amused than anything. "I fear that you should not try to influence MY mind, however. It is not good for your health." He looked over Hatori's head. "Please leave us, Hon Ron."  
  
"Yes, Count D." Hon Ron left quietly, through yet another set of doors.  
  
Hatori felt as if his brain were being boiled inside his skull, though the pain was gradually dulling. "What are you?" Hatori asked when Hon Ron had gone. "You...you're not human. Hon Ron..."  
  
"Is a child." Count D interrupted. "A very sensitive child. She is fond of you."  
  
"What do you want?" He couldn't take Count D's memory. The family secret was found out. Hatori had failed. His use to the family was over.  
  
"Very little." Count D told him. "I am here to correct a misdeed. Nothing more. I think your family will not thank me, however." Count D bent down and helped Hatori to the sofa where he could sit more comfortably. "You are in pain? It will ease shortly." He looked over his shoulder and spoke to someone Hatori couldn't see. "Ah. There you are."  
  
Hatori barely heard Count D, however. It felt as if his whole world had been destroyed. He couldn't go home and tell Akito that he'd failed. This was the one benefit Hatori gave the family and now, if he couldn't even steal memories...what good was he? There was still so much to do. He still had to check in on Rin and make an appearance for Akito. What good was any of it if this man knew about the family? 'Was it all for nothing? Yuki lost all his friends. Momiji and Kyou lost their families. Kana. Was all the pain for nothing? It was all to protect a secret that got out in the end.' It seemed so...so...  
  
~I'M SO TIRED OF BEING HERE~  
  
~SUPPRESSED BY ALL MY CHILDISH FEAR.~  
  
"Kana." Hatori's mind slid to a halt when Count D stepped out of Hatori's line of sight and, in all her radiant glory, there stood Kana. Hatori's mouth fell open and his heart seemed to stop. "Kana, what are you doing here?" She shouldn't be here. Wasn't she in Kyoto with her husband? Her hair was short again, like it had been when they'd first met. In fact, everything about her was exactly the same as the first time she'd appeared in his office. Her hair, her eyes, even the clothes she wore.  
  
~AND IF YOU HAVE TO LEAVE~  
  
~I WISH THAT YOU WOULD JUST LEAVE.~  
  
Kana laughed merrily. "Don't I get a bit of a warmer welcome? I thought you'd be pleased to see me." She let go of Count D's hand and came to stand in front of Hatori before she couched down onto her knees before him. "I've missed you, Hatori."  
  
~'CAUSE YOUR PRESENCE STILL LINGERS HERE~  
  
~AND IT WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE.~  
  
The pain of two years ago, when he'd lost her, came flooding back in full force and Hatori was shaking when he unconsciously reached out to her. She was still so beautiful. So sweet. It felt as if she'd never left him and two years of pain vanished. For just a moment, Hatori forgot that Kana was now married. He forgot the look of horror on her face when he bled and the terror as Akito screamed at her. He'd been trying to preserve a love that he'd though hopeless. She was in reach, right before his eyes. She was smiling. Smiling at HIM! She was looking at him without the grief at their last meeting. Was it possible...?  
  
No.  
  
Hatori pulled back from Kana and put his hands on his lap. This wasn't right. Kana had forgotten. She was in Kyoto on her honeymoon, still.  
  
~THESE WOUNDS WON'T SEEM TO HEAL~  
  
~THIS PAIN IS JUST TO REAL.~  
  
~THERE'S JUST TOO MUCH THAT TIME CANNOT ERASE.~  
  
Kana was perfect, just as he remembered her. Her eyes...they were still so warm and so full of love. "Hatori, aren't you happy to see me? I came to see you." She looked very much like Tohru, her innocence and sincerity.  
  
"To see...me? Why?" Hatori remembered the sweet spring days when he and Kana would take walks together. It was paradise. He would have done anything for Kana. He truly had been willing to fight Akito for her. He would have given his life for her. He still would.  
  
~WHEN YOU CRY I'D WIPE AWAY ALL OF YOUR TEARS~  
  
~WHEN YOU'D SCREAM I'D FIGHT ALL OF YOUR FEARS~  
  
~I HELD YOUR HAND THROUGH ALL OF THESE YEARS~  
  
~BUT YOU STILL HAVE~  
  
~ALL OF ME.~  
  
"Why?" Again, Kana laughed and put her hands on Hatori's knees. "Why do I need a reason? We're going to be married, aren't we?" Kana reached out to touch Hatori's face, but he jerked away, desperate not to be touched. This dream was to real and he would be lost to it if she touched him.  
  
"This isn't real." Hatori's voice sounded distant. He stood and inched away from Kana, still kneeling on the floor. "You are not Kana!" With that, Hatori turned and ran, his reason for coming here completely forgotten with Kana's appearance. He had to get out, get away from Kana's face and her gentle smile. NOW!  
  
Hatori ran the entire way home. It was only his iron will that kept him from bursting into tears right on the street. He managed to get to his house without a break down. Just outside his house, Hatori closed his eyes. Kana's face appeared before him, first smiling angelically and then crying hysterically. He quickly opened his eyes to rid himself of the vision.   
  
'I will not cry. Crying does no good. I have to much to do. I have to check on Kyou. I have to look in on Rin. I have to give Akito his daily check-up. I don't have time, I should have gone straight to Shigure's house.' The fact that he hadn't slept for the past two days and nights weren't helping his mental state. Hatori's hands were shaking when he opened the door and he almost didn't notice Ayame sitting at his living room table.   
  
Hatori felt sudden relief to find Ayame sitting on his sofa, working on some of his sewing. Ayame was such a fixture in Hatori's life. Whenever Hatori needed him, Ayame was there. This time, though, Hatori needed time to get himself together. He didn't want Ayame to see him weak.  
  
Ayame noticed something was wrong the moment he looked up at Hatori. "'Tori, is something wrong? You look like you're going to crying." Ayame began to stand the moment Hatori had entered the house.   
  
Instead of answering his friend, Hatori rushed passed Ayame, hoping that if he got to his office, he could calm himself. It wouldn't do for anyone to see him so upset. He had to control himself. The moment Hatori closed the door of his office behind him, he took a deep breath and forced his body to relax. 'I just have to calm down. I don't know what kind of trick that was, I don't know how he did it, but it was just a trick. Kana's in Kyoto. She doesn't remember.' Hatori's eyes fell on the photograph of Kana he'd always kept in his office.  
  
~YOU USED TO CAPTIVATE ME~  
  
~BY YOUR RESONATING LIGHT~  
  
~NOW I'M BOUND BY THE LIFE YOU LEFT BEHIND~  
  
"Oh, God..." Hatori stumbled away from the door and towards the photograph of the woman he'd given his soul to. "Kana, forgive me. Please. I never wanted you to be hurt. I'd rather die than hurt..." His voice faded away into a sob as he picked up the photograph and held it tenderly with both hands. A tear drop fell on the image of Kana. "You were so beautiful. I wanted to be selfish. I wanted to love you. Just once, I wanted something for myself, not for the good of the family." Hatori put one hand on the bookcase and clutched the photograph to his chest. "I know you're gone. You don't even care for me anymore. Why couldn't you have been stronger?" The bitterness came out in a choked sob and Hatori felt so guilty for it.  
  
~YOUR FACE IT HAUNTS~  
  
~MY ONCE PLEASANT DREAMS~  
  
~YOUR VOICE IT CHASED AWAY~  
  
~ALL THE SANITY IN ME.~  
  
Long arms wrapped around Hatori, but he didn't fight the intimate touch. "It's all right." Ayame whispered. "Go ahead and cry. I won't tell anyone." Ayame held Hatori tightly, putting his head on Hatori's shoulder.  
  
"It hurts." Hatori whimpered, feeling so helpless, so weak. "I can't stop the pain. It eats at me, Ayame! Why was she so weak?! I would have challenged Akito for her! I would have given up both eyes for her and she left me! I knew Akito would be furious, I told her he'd be angry. I warned her he might get violent, so I had her sit far from him. I was ready, I knew he'd do something like that. I didn't care. So long as she was with me, I didn't care."  
  
Ayame was silent for a time and just held Hatori. "She can't help it if she was strong or weak, she can't change who she is. She couldn't handle her own guilt for what Akito did to you. It wasn't something she did on purpose. We all knew Kana loved you very much. She couldn't bear to see you in pain."  
  
Ayame had never liked Kana, but the fact that he could be so compassionate and defend her for Hatori's sake, broke Hatori. He set Kana's photograph back on the shelf and turned to Ayame. It seemed inadequate to thank Ayame for something that must have hurt him to admit. Hatori collapsed into broken sobs, turning to face Ayame and his hands tightening around Ayame's soft clothes as he pressed his face into Ayame's chest.   
  
~THESE WOUNDS WON'T SEEM TO HEAL~  
  
~THIS PAIN IS JUST TOO REAL~  
  
~THERE'S JUST TOO MUCH THAT TIME CANNOT ERASE.~  
  
  
  
~I'VE TRIED SO HARD TO TELL MYSELF THAT YOU'RE GONE~  
  
~AND THOUGH YOU'RE STILL WITH ME~  
  
~I'VE BEEN ALONE ALL ALONG.~  
  
'Maybe,' Hatori thought distantly as he let out a lot of pain he'd been feeling for a long time, 'Maybe it's time that I move on.'  
  
10:30am  
  
Chris-  
  
Chris went into the parlor of the Petshop just when he saw a man dressed in a black suit leaving. Chris knew the man was in a hurry, because he was nearly running. 'How strange.' Chris thought, looking at the doors as they swung closed and then at Count D and Ten-chan who was kneeling on the floor. He liked Ten-chan well enough, but he didn't know the kitsune as well as he knew Tet-chan.  
  
Chris listened when Ten-chan turned his head away from the door the man had just run through.   
  
"Did I fail you, Count?"  
  
"Not at all, Ten-chan. You did exactly as I wished." Count D went to sit on the red velvet sofa where he and Chris' brother often had tea together. "It worked perfectly. I have been watching them quite a lot, recently. They are such a beautiful family. I can see why my papa would want them."  
  
"I don't understand, Count." Ten-chan crawled up onto the sofa next to the Count and put his head in Count D's lap. "Didn't you want to sell me to him? Maybe I could have made him happy."  
  
"No. I do not think that is what he needed. You see, he hasn't cried properly for his lost love." Count D began to pet Ten-chan's bright red hair. "When a human loses one they care deeply for, it is healing to cry. He had not cried, so he hadn't been able to heal."  
  
"But, he's not human, is he?"  
  
"No. Not entirely."  
  
"Why do you care for him? Do you want him as one of your pets?"  
  
"It would give me great happiness for such a rare creature call my home his, but that is not why I wish to help him. It was my papa's fault that his family has been damaged. It is my responsibility, I believe, to fix what my papa has broken. He was nearby, so I thought to see him first. He is better able to feel my presence, thanks to his talent. His coming here was inevitable."  
  
"How can you fix people who are broken?"  
  
Count D smiled as he continued petting Ten-chan. "It all hinges on the cat, you see."  
  
Chris had no idea what they were talking about, but he figured that the Count knew what he was talking about. Count D was so smart and kind, Chris believed in him, no matter what. So Chris stopped eavesdropping, which the Count had told him was rude, and came rushing out. Count? May I go out for a while?  
  
"If you like." Count D answered with a smile. "Would you like me to have Tet-chan go with you?"  
  
Chris rolled his eyes. I'm not a baby, Count! He protested. I'm just going to the park and it's just around the corner. Hon Ron said she passed it. Please, I'll be all right and Tet-chan's busy making lunch for everyone. As much as Chris really liked Tet-chan, he was old enough to go out on his own and he wanted everyone, especially Leon, to see that he could take care of himself.  
  
"Very well." Count D smiled indulgently and touched Chris' cheek.. "Leon did say that I should not be so over protective. Go straight to the park and nowhere else, though. Be home in two hours for lunch."  
  
Yes, Count! Chris nearly ran out of the petshop, he was so thrilled with his newly given independence. The park was beautiful, or so Hon Ron had told him. He was planning to do what the Count had told him, but just as he began running down the sidewalk he looked up suddenly and saw he was headed straight into a girl about his own age with short, strawberry blonde hair. She saw him at the same time and Chris thought he would knock her over. Just as they were about to collide, though, someone yanked her aside and Chris, who was trying to stop his momentum, tumbled and fell right on his bottom.  
  
"Watch where you're going! Are you brain dead or just careless? Honestly, you'd think a kid old enough to be let out on his own would have the sense to keep his eyes open while running." A sharp, cutting voice snapped. When Chris looked up, he saw a boy, a few years older than himself, holding the arm of the girl Chris had nearly run into. The boy glared with furious eyes. "If you're so clumsy that..."  
  
"Hiro," The girl said, her voice barely more than a whisper. "I'm sure it was just an accident. He didn't mean it." She was small, like Chris, but he got the feeling that she might be older than he was. She was very pretty, in Chris' opinion. Her eyes were a funny color, but they looked warm, and her hair was short and a very nice color. Most of all, Chris liked her little smile.  
  
Hi. Chris smiled. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...  
  
They both looked at Chris blankly until the boy's scowl deepened. "What's the matter, cat got your tongue? Can't you even apologize for almost knocking her down?"  
  
Chris remembered, belatedly, that they couldn't hear him. He looked away and wished he could tell them that he could speak, they just couldn't hear him. It was always like that and Chris felt his heart sink. He wanted to speak, but he just couldn't. He'd hoped that maybe people in this new place would be able to speak with him, like the people in the petshop could. 'I guess mama and papa were right to get rid of me.' Chris thought, dejectedly. 'What good am I if I can't talk to anyone? I should just stay in the petshop forever. At least there I can talk.'  
  
"Hiro, be kind. I wasn't hurt. Oh, but you are." The girl looked down at Chris' leg when he stood. "You've hurt yourself."  
  
Indeed, Chris looked at his throbbing knee and saw that his jeans had ripped at the knee and blood was seeping through. It was nothing to be worried about, he could just go back to the petshop and clean it up in the bathroom.  
  
  
  
"Please come with us." The girl said, still holding onto her friend's hand. "I'm so sorry you got hurt, I'm sure Hatori's at home and he's a doctor. He'll fix you up. I'm Kisa and this is Hiro. Please, let me help. Maybe I can find some new pants for you." She said this last as though she was afraid he wouldn't want to and that he might even yell at her. Frankly, Chris thought that anyone who yelled at Kisa when Hiro was around was going to be in a world of trouble.  
  
Hiro sniffed and turned away. "I don't see why we'd want him around, we don't even know him, Kisa. He's clumsy and bad mannered, he didn't apologize for almost knocking you down. Besides, Hatori's very busy, he can't be bothered by something so small as a scraped knee."  
  
Kisa smiled gently at Hiro. "You didn't apologize for letting him fall. You could have caught him, too."  
  
"It was either him or you. Guess who won?" Hiro gave her a thin smile. "He's a boy, he supposed to be tougher, anyway. That's what Kyou's always saying, isn't he?"  
  
Kisa didn't answer her friend, but spoke to Chris again. "Don't mind Hiro, he's not really mean. I used to not want to talk, too. I don't mind if you want to be quiet. Do you want to come with us?"  
  
Chris had no intention of refusing Kisa. He nodded eagerly and the three of them started to walk away, though Hiro was far less enthusiastic thank Kisa about it. Chris' promise to the Count, to go only to the park, was completely forgotten with the opportunity to have friends outside the petshop. It had been a long time since he'd had any real friends outside the petshop.  
  
Ren-  
  
Ren watched with glee when the little boy, Chris left the petshop alone. It was the first time he'd been alone since Ren had begun watching for her chance. All she had to do was take him and get rid of him somewhere and then the Souma family would be hers. The great wealth and the power...it had been promised to her.  
  
'I know just what to do with the boy when I have him.' Ren thought as she pulled her car away from the curb to follow the child and find some lonely place where she could grab him. 'He'll never be seen again.' Her thoughts paused when the boy bumped into a couple of other children Ren recognized as two members of the Souma family, though she couldn't quite recall their names. They spoke for a moment before the three of them started to walk away together. 'No matter. They're only children. They can't stop me.'  
  
To be continued...  
  
To my reviewers:  
  
Ruby Love: Thanks so much for all the reviews you've left. Let's see if I can answer some of your questions. I'm glad you hate Ren, you're supposed to. I'm trying to make her a very unlikable character and I think I'm doing pretty well. As for Shigure's 'vision' of the female cat, well...who knows if that was truly her soul or just a fever dream from Shigure's illness? I really suggest that you see the second two dvd's of Fruits Basket, they're fantastic! Thanks for the email. I like Ritsu, too, thought I think he's a very sad character. Yes, I made up Kureno's entire history. I know absolutely nothing about him except that he likes Tohru's friend, Uotoni. Still, I think he came out rather well. Yes, Ren is a bit of a moron, isn't she? Leon is not an OC, he's one of the main characters from Petshop of Horrors, an absolutely wonderful manga. They made an anime about it, but it's not nearly so good as the manga. No, that didn't sound stupid, about it being like a diary. I wanted Leon and Ayame to both have someone to lean on, someone who didn't judge them and just accepted them. I figure lying is a talent and it would take practice before Shigure to get good at it. Kyou's value in my story will become apparent very soon. I apologize if I haven't answered all your questions, but I don't want to give away to much of the story.  
  
Don't worry about Akito, I have plans for him.  
  
Demeter1: I'm so pleased that you like Akito so much. He's one of my all-time favorite anime characters. I hope you like the ending I have planned for him.  
  
Mirialdo: I'm glad you like it. I figure, all the other cursed get to interact with their animal counterpart on a daily basis. Yuki is around rats, Kyou can see cats all the time, etc. Hatori never gets to see other dragons. I thought it would be a nice treat for him.  
  
Muchacha: I'm glad you're still enjoying the story and Akito. Please, keep reading and let me know what you think.  
  
Yuan18: I like the goofy Shigure, too, but I'm fascinated by those rare times in the anime and manga where Shigure seems to know a lot more than he's telling. I get the very real feeling that he's manipulating everyone around him for a very specific purpose. I can't wait to see what it is in the manga. For now, I'll have to make up my own reasons. Yes, Mine-chan likes Jill. To be honest, that has nothing whatsoever to do with the story. I like Mine-chan. I like Jill. It seems a pity that neither of them has a love interest. Therefore, in my infinite wisdom, I've paired them up and I wish them all the happiness in the world.  
  
Meek: Evil twinkies? :) I guess I'll have to keep writing, then. I'd hate to be attacked by twinkies in the middle of the night. Hee, hee...  
  
Ayako: Tohru's logic for wanting to make everyone happy before she kills herself is...off. That's done on purpose, to be honest. Tohru believes it's her duty to die with her mother, yet she can't bear to bring grief to anyone. Therefore, she will do her best to make them all happy, so the grief won't seem as bad. To her, it makes sense. It's the only rationalization she can come up with and if she doesn't use it, she might not be able to do her duty to her beloved mother.  
  
Anee: Don't worry. I try to update every other Saturday. I'm sorry for the long wait between chapters, but I like it to be as perfect as possible. This will all make sense in the end...I hope.  
  
Babs: Thanks so much for the compliments, I'm very flattered. I hope you like the rest of the story, too.  
  
Caiti: Thanks so much for the wonderful comments, I'm proud that I've done a work that's impressed you so much. I'll send you an email as soon as I can.  
  
Kireina: Glad you enjoyed the chapter, I hope you like this one just as well.  
  
Bubblegum Koala Girl: Well, I was trying to squeeze Saki and Uo into the story, but it's moving so fast, I don't know if they'll have a big role. In the next story I do, they'll have much more important roles. I like them both very much, but this story is so busy, I thought adding two more characters would just make it to confusing. Just for you, I added the bit about Uo-chan and Kureno. Well...for you and because I adore Kureno. :)  
  
Merei-chan: You have good reason to be nervous. It all begins in the next chapter. I hope you enjoy. As for romantic pairings, we'll leave that as a mystery. I think Akito must find Tohru to be the single most threatening person in the world. She's the only person he's ever met who had a real chance of stealing his family away from him. If Akito hasn't got his family...he's got nothing.  
  
Grrl N: Yep, Hon Ron is a character from Petshop of Horrors. She doesn't have a major role, but I wanted Hatori to be able to talk to another dragon, even if it was only for a little while.  
  
Dragonic Eis: Kyou was actually meant to be the main character of this fic, but I'm afraid Shigure took over right at the beginning. The story will begin to focus more on Kyou in the next chapter. He has a very important doom.  
  
Rasgara: I'm glad you enjoy the story so much. I have this story planned right to the finale, so I promise it will continue.  
  
Daemonchan: I'm happy that you liked the chapter so much, please let me know if you like the rest of the story. I hope you do.  
  
Misa Rose: Thanks for the review. Sigh. I know I have those little errors. No matter how many times I go over a chapter, a few always sneak by me. Ah well, when I'm finished with the fic, I can go back and fix them all.  
  
Caer: As for when Hatori gave Kyou the injection; you're quite right. He walked in, shot Kyou up with meds and didn't even once check the boy. To be honest, I did that on purpose, I wanted to see if anyone would notice. Did you see the anime? When Tohru got sick, Hatori walked right in and gave her an injection of something and then left. I don't believe he even took her temperature. That struck me as odd and I wanted to know if it was just me. However, since I love Hatori, I've decide he must be simply brilliant and he doesn't need any stupid examination with his patients. He must have created a miracle drug! Bwhahaha!....Sorry. Got carried away. Well, I hope to hear from you again and that you enjoy the rest of the story.  
  
Cor-chan: Thanks for the review. I'm doing my best to keep things moving, but every character is begging for time. I hope the story stays good, let me know if you like it.  
  
Greenember: Don't apologize. To be honest, I find Yuki one of the hardest characters to write. I'm glad you like the story overall, though. I hope you like it enough to keep reading it. Thanks for the last review you wrote. It shows that you're actually thinking about what I've written and I appreciate that. As I said, I find Yuki to be about the most difficult character. I used the anime version for Kyou's great transformation. I like the idea of both Yuki and Tohru going after him, but I do know he didn't go after Kyou in the manga, nor did Tohru's friends have to urge her along. To be honest, I'm surprised more people aren't complaining about my characterization. I thought no one would like my Shigure. I hope you like the rest of the story and thanks again for taking the time to review.  
  
Arain Rowen: Thanks for the review, I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Incredible is such high praise, I hope I live up to it till the end of the story.  
  
Tri: Yes, I love cliffhangers. Don't you? Shigure will meet Count D very soon.  
  
Aori Tsuki: Sorry if you have to wait between updates, but I want to make sure to put out the best possible chapters and it's hard to decide what to use and what has to wait till next chapter and what to just cut out. Hee, hee, the Souma's are always in big trouble. I've never seen a more messed up family.  
  
Shadow Cat17: I'm very glad you're enjoying it. Don't worry, the updates will keep coming. Thanks for reviewing.  
  
Silvermoon10: In the next chapter, I think, you'll find out why Kyou is so special. Papa D only wants Chris taken as a distraction. He thinks it will help him to avoid his child, Count D, because he knows Count D is fond of Chris. He could have told Ren to take Leon, but a child would be easier to kidnap.  
  
Hypersacractisinternetaddic: Well, in the manga Akito pushed Rin, so I thought it would be fun to write. I hope to hear from you again, soon. Enjoy the rest of the story.  
  
Jaelle: Ah, Tohru, my pretty little bird. Ever notice how much Akito loves the little birds in his garden? Actually, I was thinking of making Tohru's mother, Kyoko, one of Count D's pets. Wouldn't that be interesting? Tohru as a half-breed human and bird? Oh well, maybe in another fic.  
  
Enjen: Count D will get to Tohru. He's got a lot to keep him busy, after all, but he won't abandon one of his orphaned pets.  
  
Arin Ross: You're the first one to guess Shigure's one true love. Yes, Akito needs serious help. I hope you like the rest of the story.  
  
Well, I think that's all for now, folks. I'm sorry if I haven't answered some of your questions, but I don't want to give away too much of the story. I hope you all enjoy and please, keep reviewing. It honestly helps to see and fix plot holes as well as interesting story lines I hadn't thought of. I really appreciate the time all of you have taken to review. 


	18. Midday

Long Denied  
  
Chapter 18: Midday  
  
Leon-  
  
Leon was a very good judge of character. It was part of his job and a necessary life skill. That was the reason why, despite the logic against it, Leon trust D. All evidence and common sense told Leon that D was up to no good, yet he did trust D. So, as Leon waited for the directions to be completed, he studied Ayame's younger brother and decided that he liked the boy.  
  
Ayame had told Leon just about everything about his family and Leon wondered how much he should say. He knew Yuki felt betrayed by his brother and was abused as a child. He knew Yuki was just starting to adjust to normal life, but still harbored bitterness towards Ayame.  
  
"So, how did you meet my brother, if I may ask?" Yuki asked, when he'd finished writing down the directions to the Souma estate. "Are you one of his...er...customers? I didn't get your name."  
  
"Name's Leon Orcot and I'm not a customer. All my clothes are strictly garage sale treasures." Leon had to laugh at himself, a bit self-consciously. He'd seen the price tags on some of Ayame's creations and knew he wouldn't be able to afford even a single shirt with a month's pay, even if he wanted to. Leon knew exactly what kind of clothes Ayame made, but he tried to keep an opened mind. Maybe he could buy D a present here. "We met a long while ago. It was a thing at school, you know when the teachers try to do the whole cultural exchange thing. We got hooked up even though he's a few years older. We just kinda got used to each other, I guess."  
  
Yuki closed his eyes and looked away. "I find it very strange that you're friends with my brother. You are very different." He was looking at Leon as if examining him. "You seem much more down to Earth than my idiot brother."  
  
"Well, what's that old saying? Opposites attract."  
  
"Are you saying...?" Yuki raised an eyebrow.  
  
"No!" Leon growled, at once seeing where the boy was leading. "Geeze, you've got a dirty mind for a kid."  
  
"Kid?" Yuki looked vaguely insulted.  
  
"Look, all I'm saying is you don't have to be just like someone to be friends with them. Didn't you ever have a friend that you liked just because he was entirely different from you? Your brother's done a lot for me over the years and I'm grateful for him." Leon glanced at the written address before stuffing it in his pocket and standing up. He wasn't all that surprised to see how small Yuki was, after all, his brother was also very small. One day, it would be hard to tell the two apart. "You should cut your brother some slack, ya know. He's not really the evil bastard you think he is."  
  
"I don't think he's evil!" Yuki didn't look as angry as Leon thought he should.  
  
"Could have fooled me, kid." This was all to close to home. What if Chris had turned out like Yuki? It was to easy to see Chris turning out as bitter and angry as Yuki. If Leon had done as his aunt and uncle had told him and sent little Chris to the Institute. If he hadn't called his brother back and decided to keep him, no matter how hard it was. Leon was afraid to think how Chris would be left in that cold, sterile environment.   
  
"I am not a kid and I don't think he's evil!" Yuki took a deep breath and turned away in an attempt to calm himself. "I should go now." It was so obvious to Leon that Yuki had something he wanted to say, but wouldn't, that he wanted to grind his teeth.  
  
"Running away never helps anything, kid. I should now."  
  
Yuki looked over his shoulder at Leon and gave him a very cold stare. "You know nothing."  
  
"Maybe." Leon could just tell that this kid thought he had the worst life anyone had ever had. All teenagers did. "But I do know Ayame, probably better than you do. Ya know, he never told me a lie. Never once."  
  
Yuki paled, but Leon wasn't sure why. Maybe he thought his brother had told Leon some terrible secret about him. In truth, Ayame had never had anything but praise to say about Yuki. "Don't look so worried. I got to tell you, kid, you have it better than you know. Your brother's a good man, I don't care what he dresses like or acts like. He's done a lot for me."  
  
This gave Yuki pause and his expression, though still chilly, softened slightly. "Oh?"  
  
"Yup." Leon finished off the last of his coffee. "You should meet my lil' brother, sometime. Our mother died when he was born. Sound familiar? He went to live with other relatives, but I got shipped off to an orphanage. I didn't get to see him again till about a year ago. Damn, but I used to hate him." It was a terrible thing to admit, but if Leon thought Yuki might need this. Besides, Leon was a pretty honest guy and it was the truth, even if he hoped Chris never heard about it. "I hated him so much. He took my mother and, to top it off, he never even knew she existed. He thought our aunt was his mom. I hated that, when I found out. She died for him and he didn't even know she existed!" Leon put down his coffee cup when he realized his hand was starting to tighten around it. Probably wasn't good manners to break Ayame's stuff. "I hated Chris, but when that wore off. I hated myself. Chris couldn't have changed anything, he was a baby. He's still trying to understand that it wasn't his fault. But me? I knew there was something I could have done to save her. I should have done something. Anything. I was a brat, then. What the Hell did I know? I wanted to die. Your brother pulled me through 'cause of his letters and he doesn't even know it. When I heard he went through what I was going through, and that he'd survived, well...it helped." Leon stopped talking for a minute. He didn't like getting so personal with someone he hardly knew. It had taken months before he'd told even D all this stuff. It seemed like Yuki needed to hear this, though. "Ever wonder how Ayame felt when your mom died? I know how he felt, first hand. Cut him some slack. I can still see my mom smiling when my brother smiles and it still hurts. Maybe he sees your mom in you."  
  
"Ayame tends to bring out my worst side. He talks to much." Yuki was icy cold, but Leon could see the fire boiling behind his eyes. "I think you might bring out my worst side, too, Orcot-san."  
  
"Best, worst, who cares? So long as you feel something, it can all get better. When you stop feeling, then you have to worry." Leon shrugged. He must have hit pretty close to the mark for Yuki to be so angry. "Besides, I never really believed in restraining emotions. It's not healthy. You didn't kill your mother. Ayame knows that, now. When you were born, he was just a brat, himself. He just lost his mother and I can tell you that's fucking scary for any kid. He needed time to get over it and he did."  
  
"Ayame told you a lot."  
  
"He tells me pretty much everything."  
  
"He ignored me for most of my life."  
  
"Yeah? And you've never done anything stupid, I guess?"  
  
"So," Yuki gave Leon a slight, sarcastic smile. "You think I should just, 'forgive and forget'?"  
  
"Whatever. It's your business, I guess. Just wanted you to hear from someone in your brother's shoes. He wouldn't tell you, he's too proud. Don't be so hard on him. You might actually like him someday."  
  
"Doubtful."  
  
"But not impossible. Nothing is impossible."  
  
Leon had heard all about Yuki's abusive, neglected childhood from Ayame. Terrible things about foster parents and suicide attempts. To be honest, Leon could tell that Yuki had problems, but he'd seen lots of juveniles going through the precinct who were pretty messed-up. Yuki found out that most of his life was a lie and that his own brother rejected him, but it could have been worse. Leon had met kids who watched their parents kill each other. There was a little girl who was raped by her grandfather. Twin boys who'd been so badly abused that once they'd been rescued from their homes, they'd both committed suicide the minute they'd been left alone. Angry, confused kids were nothing new to Leon, he was once one of them. At least Yuki was lucky enough to have a good family that took care of him. While Leon knew Yuki didn't live with Ayame, he did live with a good-hearted cousin who'd taken him in. A lot of kids Leon had met had it far worse than Yuki.  
  
Leon cast one last look back at the door Jill and Mine-chan had vanished behind and hoped they'd be busy for a couple of hours. He wanted to get this over with before Jill could get hurt. The dream from last night was still making him uneasy and Leon knew he couldn't live with himself if he got any of the people he cared about killed.  
  
Yuki sighed, but bowed politely. "I really should be going."  
  
"Yeah, me, too. Nice to meet you, kid." Leon finished off the last of his coffee and headed for the door. "Think about what I said. Ayame realized he was losing out by cutting you out of his life. Someday, you're going to realize what you lost and, by then, it might be to late."  
  
"Orcot-san?"  
  
"Yeah?"   
  
Yuki looked...different than he had just a moment ago. The boy's whole body language was closed. His arms were crossed over his chest and his head hung forward, making his hair hide half his face. Leon's training shouted at him that Yuki was hiding something he definitely wanted to keep hidden. He looked more tense than when they'd been talking about Ayame. That was just fine with Leon. He knew there were a lot of secrets most people wanted to keep hidden, personal demons that had to be kept that way. Leon had quite a few he hoped would never see the light of day. The biggest of which involved a certain Chinese petshop owner.  
  
"You...you're really planning to go to the estate?" Yuki didn't look up as he spoke and, strangely, Leon saw a small mouse creep out from under the kitchen cupboards and make its way over to Yuki. It perched on Yuki's shining, polished shoe and squeaked up at him.  
  
"Sure am." Leon had a very...uncomfortable feeling all of a sudden. "Any reason I shouldn't?"  
  
Yuki didn't answer for a moment, but when he looked up, there was a haunted look in his eyes. "Be careful, Orcot-san." Yuki bent down and scooped the little grey mouse off his shoe and cradled it in the palm of his hand. "I hope they don't allow you in." With that, Yuki deposited the mouse on the kitchen counter top and strode out as quickly as he could without running. He was gone before Leon could say another word and Leon was glad the kid had gone.  
  
He was shaking terribly and had to take a deep breath to calm himself. 'Damn. I can't believe I told him all that!' It was so unlike Leon to just tell a stranger everything and he felt both exhausted and excited by the effort. He adrenaline was pumping all of a sudden and he felt like he could run a marathon, but he also didn't want to move. 'Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. It's not the kid's business what happened to me and Chris. Didn't look like he cared, anyway.'  
  
"That kid has problems." Leon shook his head as he, too, left the apartment. When he began down the streets in search of the Souma estate, he was still thinking about Yuki. 'I hope the kid works out his demons and talks to Ayame. Something serious is eating at him.' Still, Leon had work to do. He would have to find Kureno and he'd have to hurry. He'd slept away half the day and he'd have to get this over with quickly if he were going to make it to the petshop in time for tea. He hated missing tea with Chris and D.   
  
A quick look at his watch told Leon it was nearly midday.   
  
Yuki-  
  
'Your brother's a good man...He's done a lot for me."  
  
Yuki had heard variations on that over the years, but he'd never quite believed it. He wasn't sure he believed it even now. So what if Ayame's friend could sympathize? It didn't change anything, really. Orcot-san had said it himself, he'd been taken away to an orphanage. He didn't have the chance to be with his brother. Ayame had the chance; he just hadn't wanted to. No. That wasn't true. Not entirely.  
  
'Did you ever wonder how he felt when your mom died? I can see my mom when my brother smiles.'  
  
Yuki had heard once, when he was very young, that Ayame was at their mother's side when she died. Her last words had been to him. 'Well, my good mood's broken.' Yuki sighed. He was just coming to grips with the idea that maybe he hadn't been entirely fair to Akito or Kyou over the years and now he was getting another guilt trip over Ayame. He had a very strong feeling that the day was only going to get worse. 'I suppose I'll go home for some lunch and go job hunting later, Tohru will be expecting me. It's almost midday.'  
  
Kyou-  
  
The phone was ringing.  
  
Kyou groaned when the ringing was finally enough to pull him out of his drug induced sleep. He remembered Hatori visiting and Hatori had a habit of giving people medicine without asking, so Kyou was pretty sure his deep sleep was due to Hatori. It wouldn't be the first time that Hatori had slipped him medication when he wasn't paying attention and Kyou knew for a fact that Hatori had drugged Akito when he started to get to out of hand. There was a sore spot on the inside of his elbow, so Hatori had probably given him a shot of something.  
  
Kyou had almost forgotten that he had the cell phone until just then. He never used it, but it had been a gift from his master, so he never would have just gotten rid of it. It was supposed to be for Kyou's safety. If he ever needed his master, Kyou was to call home immediately and his master would come running. That was the theory and Kyou had never said anything that would disillusion his master.  
  
'Like I'm going to bother him just because I get myself into a bit of trouble. I don't get into trouble I can't get myself out of!' Kyou had silently snorted at the very idea. Being so selfish and demanding of his master was abhorrent to Kyou. 'Master's done so much for me, I'd never make him worry like that. He meant well, but the phone's useless. I'll never use it.' What was there that Kyou couldn't get himself out of? He'd lived on his own for several months and was pretty damned good about taking care of himself. He was stronger than most every other living creature on Earth and could fight his way out of any physical danger. He wasn't the type to go out and get drunk and need a ride home. In reality, except for the whole cursed issue, Kyou led a pretty boring life. He woke up, went to school, and went back to Shigure's house and maybe a little brawling with Yuki. That was pretty much it.  
  
The phone kept ringing.  
  
It wasn't helping Kyou's pounding headache and he was seriously debating on whether to answer the phone when he found it or just smash it. The sound was going right through his poor, throbbing head!  
  
'Who the Hell's calling? I never even told anyone the number.' As he tried to get out of bed, Kyou managed to get himself tangled in the bed sheets and he fell out of bed. That didn't help his aching muscles or his pounding head. "Shit!" The use of colorful language was not something new to Kyou. By the time he managed to get up and shake off the traitorous sheets, the phone was still ringing insistently. "Shut up!" Kyou snapped as he searched for the phone. His room wasn't messy, by any means. In fact, Kyou had very few belonging and what he did have, he kept at home, at the dojo. In this room Shigure had given him, Kyou had nothing but his books, his bed, and his school bag. The problem was that his head was still a bit fuzzy and he couldn't see straight, yet.   
  
"Where the Hell is that damned thing?" Kyou looked around for the ringing, but it seemed to be coming from everywhere.  
  
In his aimless stumbling around the room, Kyou walked into a path of sunlight that shone across his room. 'Ahhhh...' Kyou stopped and let the sunlight warm him. 'That's good.' He could feel his whole body getting warm and waking up. Just as rain made Kyou sleepy and weak, the sunlight always seemed to wake him up. Even now, Kyou could feel the remnants of last night's illness fading away. His head began to clear and his throat, though still a bit raw, was soothed.  
  
Now, Kyou could easily zero in on the phone and he pulled it off his desk, where it had been the whole time in plain sight. "Who are you and what the Hell do you want?!" Kyou barked, still angry at being woken up.  
  
-Kyou, is that anyway to answer the phone? People are going to think you have no manners.-  
  
Kyou almost dropped the phone, he was so surprised by the smooth voice. "Master?"  
  
-Who were you expecting? I hope you don't always answer the phone like that, cursing and yelling.-  
  
"No, master, of course not." Kyou had completely lost his anger at Kazuma's voice. "Ummm...I was just sleeping and it kind of surprised me. You woke me up."  
  
-I see. So, you were stumbling around, searching for it blindly and when you found it, it was right in plain sight. Am I right?- He sounded as if he were trying not to laugh.  
  
"Yes, master." Kyou blushed, even though Kazuma couldn't see him. He didn't always wake up like that, unlike Yuki, but it had happened often enough for Kazuma to guess what had happened. "It's not my fault. I slept in and I just woke up to quickly."  
  
-Really? And here I thought it was because you were sick last night.-  
  
"What?" Kyou hadn't wanted Kazuma to know. He didn't want to look weak in front of anyone, but least of all in front of Kazuma. "Who told you?"  
  
-Honda-san called and told me early this morning. She said she thought I would like to know and I do. I hope you aren't angry with her.-  
  
Angry? With Tohru? Kyou didn't think he could ever be really angry with her. "Naw. I guess not." Kyou fell silent, not sure what he should say. Tohru was always doing things like this, always thinking about everyone else. "She...didn't tell you what was wrong with me, did she?" He was glad to hear from his master, but hoped his master hadn't worried about him. With luck, Tohru hadn't told Kyou's master that he'd woken up with nightmares.  
  
-Only that you had a fever and woke up very...loudly.- Kazuma paused. -How are you feeling? I've tried calling several times, but no one's answered. I was going to come over before I thought to try the phone I gave you.- He laughed softly. -I was afraid you'd gotten rid of it.-  
  
"No, master, I kept it." Kyou ran a hand through his hair and decided that since he was up, he should get up properly. He took off the boxer shorts he normally slept in and went to find his pants. "I'm fine. You didn't have to call. You must be busy with classes and things."  
  
-Not so busy that I can't call. I want to come see you, just to make sure. I worry.-  
  
"Yeah, I know you do, but you shouldn't. I'm strong. It was just a stupid fever and I'm better now. You don't have to..."  
  
-Yes, I do.- Kazuma replied firmly.-You are dear to me, Kyou, whether you know it or not. I worry and I will make sure that you are all right. Now, I'm coming over tonight. Please don't tell Honda-san that she must make a dinner for me. I'm coming to see you, not to eat. I wouldn't want to inconvenience her.-  
  
There was no point in arguing, as Kyou had learned long ago. "Yes, master." A kinder man had never been born, but Kazuma was also a Souma. He was used to getting whatever he wanted.  
  
While Kyou held the phone to his ear with his shoulder and struggled into his khaki pants by hopping around, his eyes drifted out the window and into the front garden. He stopped hopping into his pants at once, letting them fall to the floor, and moved closer to the window. "That's weird." He muttered. He put one hand against the windowsill of the open window as he looked out.  
  
-Kyou? Is something wrong?- Kazuma's concerned voice reminded Kyou that he still had the phone at his ear.  
  
"Huh? Oh. No. I just looked out the window. Shigure's out there with someone I've never seen. Weird looking person, too."  
  
-Oh?-  
  
Shigure, dressed in his usual grey kimono, stood in the path that led to the front door of the house. Several yards in front of Shigure stood the stranger, though he looked very familiar, even at this distance. There was something odd about the way Shigure was standing. He looked tense. Like he was ready to fight. "Hey, master?"  
  
-Yes?-  
  
"Shigure doesn't fight, does he?" Kyou had never seen Shigure get violent with anyone. As far as Kyou knew, Shigure had no interest in fighting.  
  
-Not often.-  
  
"Looks like he's going to fight now. He's in a fighting stance. He's going to attack some guy in the front garden." Kyou once again grabbed his pants and started to pull them on, this time even more quickly. If that idiot was in trouble, he was going to need help. Lazy Shigure couldn't possibly be any good in a fight.' Kyou broke off the conversation with Kazuma quickly, before his master could say anything else. "I gotta go, master. That idiot's going to get himself killed. Shit!" Though they were still yards apart, and the stranger did nothing that Kyou could see, Shigure lunged forward before collapsing very suddenly.  
  
-Kyou, wait...-  
  
Kyou hung up and dropped the phone before he started running down stairs. He couldn't leave Shigure on his own. As soon as Kyou reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw Yuki and Tohru at the table, eating lunch, completely unaware that their benefactor was about to get a beating. Pervert or not, Shigure was family and Kyou had no intention of letting his family get hurt.  
  
Papa D-  
  
Everything was working out so well. Just a few more minutes to go. Timing was everything.  
  
11:40am   
  
At the Souma estate-  
  
Akito-  
  
Alone in his to empty house, Akito was starting to feel the walls closing in around him. It was an awful room. The floor was highly polished wood and the walls were the same wood. It was a very dull, very empty room. Just being in the room made Akito feel cold.  
  
"Where is Kureno?!" He demanded, though he was alone in the audience chambers he used for visitors. "He said he wouldn't be long, what's taking him? He promised he'd come right back." Akito hated being alone. It felt like Kureno had been gone for hours and for those hours, Akito had been alone in his home, waiting for the rooster's return.  
  
Akito didn't like being alone.  
  
(You never like anything. You might as well get used to being alone. Kureno's going to leave, soon.)  
  
"Kureno won't leave me. I own him." Akito's fear was growing. He didn't want to be alone. He wanted to talk to someone who wouldn't yell at him. Shigure was the only person who knew that Akito could hear his reflection talking to him, but Shigure wasn't there. It wouldn't make any difference, anyway. Shigure couldn't make the reflection go away.  
  
(Yes, I know.) Akito's reflection followed him out to the porch and sat, dangling his feet over the edge. (You bought him. Just like a slave. How nice to think you can inspire such loyalty. Ha! If you hadn't bought him, he wouldn't love you, either.) The reflection looked up at the passing clouds.  
  
"Shut up!" Akito snarled. "You don't know anything!"  
  
(I know everything you know. We're the same person.)  
  
Akito's hands balled into fists and he tried to control himself. The terrible fear building inside him was threatening to take control of Akito. He almost couldn't bear it. Maybe his reflection was right. Maybe Kureno was just serving him because Akito owned him. Kureno had always seemed grateful, but...what if that was all it was? Grateful that he hadn't gone with those other people. Whoever those men had been, Kureno had seemed very afraid to go with them.  
  
(Someday, you'll see that I'm always right.) The reflection put both hands around Akito's shoulders until they were virtually hugging. The reflection pressed its cheek against Akito's and it felt warmer than Akito's. (I'm the only one who really cares for you. The only one who can protect you.)  
  
"You can't protect me, you're not real. No one can see or hear you. You can't do anything but talk."  
  
(You think so?) The reflection caressed Akito's face. (I'll never leave you. I can make you do things, like no one else can. I'm not afraid, like you are. I'm not afraid of anything, not the world outside these walls and not the normal people who threaten our family. Even when we die, I won't be afraid. I'll die with you. I feel everything you feel. Do you understand? I'm the only one who really understands you.)  
  
His reflection was the one person Akito couldn't run away from and couldn't fight. He wasn't sure he wanted to, anymore. It was sort of a comfort to know his reflection could feel what he felt. Still, he never felt comfortable around his other self. It was better than being alone, though. He'd tried.  
  
So Akito watched his garden over the shoulder of his reflection, enjoying the soft breeze and the song birds. He loved his birds. They were always here. The warm summer would give way to autumn, soon. The leaves would fade and fall and then snow would blanket the estate, putting everything to sleep.   
  
'Fall...the season of death.' Lately, in the quiet of the night, Akito thought he could feel himself dying. He felt tired, right down to his bones. So tired that he never wanted to even get out of bed. Hatori was starting to worry for him.  
  
(No. Hatori doesn't even care.) The reflection told Akito. (He took the side of that girl, didn't he? Did he obey when you told her to take her memory? No. That traitor just sat there, gaping. He didn't move to help you.)  
  
But Akito was thinking of another time. When he cried on Hatori's lap after Junko had died. How Hatori had held him and hadn't let Ren take him away without a fight. "No." Akito said firmly. "No, Hatori's not a traitor. He wouldn't hurt me." He knew Hatori would never hurt him any more than Shigure would. Akito pushed away from his reflection and went a little further into his garden.  
  
Akito had long since gotten used to having his reflection appear at random times. How strange it was to have to look at himself all the time. Akito stopped pacing by the wide doorway that led to his garden and looked at his reflection, who sat in his place on the raised dais. It was a place of honor, but one that Akito didn't especially enjoy. Akito's reflection was just that, his exact reflection, but Akito knew it wasn't real. No one could see or hear it, except Akito.  
  
"Why won't you go away?" It was a question Akito had asked many times over the years, but he'd never gotten an answer. He didn't really expect one now.  
  
The reflection smiled. (Why don't you call one of the others? If you're so lonely and my company displeases you, call Hatsuharu over and you can have a nice little chat.)  
  
"Hatsuharu's not here. He's at the hospital with Rin, still." Akito nearly spit the words out as he remembered seeing them, Hatori, Hatsuharu, and Momiji all drive off with Rin to the hospital. "None of them have come back, yet. I don't know why they're so concerned. She's the one who was wrong. I had to punish her. She was saying bad things about Shigure."  
  
(Yes, I know. I understand.) The reflection's voice was mocking where moments ago it had been loving and supportive. (They love her so much and she's done nothing for them, has she? How long has it been since Hatori came to see you? It's been a couple of days, hasn't it?) The reflection ran his hand through his hair and Akito turned away from him. It was getting to easy to think of the reflection as himself. As if it knew his thoughts, the reflection smiled. (Don't turn from me, Akito. I'm the only one you can trust.)  
  
Akito didn't respond, but went into his garden. The reflection didn't follow him.  
  
He needed Kureno with him, especially now. Maybe he'd made a mistake with Rin. Akito just wasn't sure. He'd been so angry when he'd heard her talking about Shigure and then with his reflection urging him on...it just happened. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. 'Maybe...maybe I should have asked Shigure, first. Shigure always knows what to do. I want to talk to Shigure.' Akito didn't get to talk to Shigure as often as he wanted to, but this was one of those times when he thought he had to.   
  
Actually, Akito had seen Shigure only a few days ago, when he'd brought that girl to him. Tohru. She'd wanted an audience, but when Akito had her brought to him, she just sat there like an idiot and said she didn't know what she wanted.  
  
Akito still didn't understand that girl. She'd been with them for more than a year, knew most of the secrets, and knew how wealthy the family was. For all that, she didn't seem to want anything more than a place to sleep. She'd never asked for anything. Not even once. That was something Akito had no experience with. He thought she would leave. After all the trouble. Especially after she'd seen the horrible cat in his true form. She should have left. Everyone else had always left. 'But she didn't. I wonder why.' She'd even shown concern for Akito, something that people rarely did. 'I hurt her.' He could understand it if she were one of his Junikyu, but she wasn't. She had no reason to keep him happy or stay near the family. Of course, she had a house to live in at Shigure's, maybe that was her reason for staying. She just wanted to make sure Akito let her stay in the house.  
  
(She will leave. In the end. They'll all leave. Don't you remember what you told Yuki? If normal people knew about you, it would sicken them. They'd stay away from you. You'd be forced to live alone.) The reflection stood next to Akito and stared intently at his face. (Why should you be any better off than your family? You know she'll get tired of your temper tantrums and she won't want to be hurt anymore. She'll leave you and the family. I wonder, though,) It gave Akito a smug look. (If they'll follow her? You see how they love her. She doesn't hurt them, like you do. Maybe they'll want to be with her instead of you. Maybe you should get rid of her.)  
  
"What are you talking about?" Akito was trying not to cry. He was god, he wasn't supposed to cry. "They won't leave me." He wrapped his arms around himself, but he couldn't stop shaking.  
  
(Look at yourself!) The reflection said, nearly spitting at Akito. (What a pitiful sight. No one's ever going to respect you. They can't possibly trust you, anymore. You tried to kill Rin.)  
  
"I didn't!" Akito suddenly found himself in the same place of absolute terror he had when Ren had accused him of killing Yahiko. He didn't want to kill anyone. He didn't want to hurt anyone, but he had to take care of his family. Rin was being bad, she had to be taught not to be bad. "You said..."  
  
(Do you always do what you're told, fool? No matter what reasons you had, they all know you tried to kill Rin. This isn't like that other time. Yahiko's death was Ren's fault. Everyone tried to defend you. Who's going to defend you now? Hatsuharu who loves Rin or Kagura who's practically her sister? Maybe you think Hatori will help you.)  
  
"Hatori came back to me!" Akito clung to that thought. Even after he'd hurt Hatori so badly, Hatori had come quickly back. He'd come back while his eye was still bandaged.  
  
(He knew that was an accident, but how much can he forgive? You chased away the love of his life. Kana was the only woman he'd ever loved and he knows you tried to hurt her. Now you tried to kill his young cousin. How could even he forgive this? Shigure will never forgive you.)  
  
It was all too much. Akito felt completely overwhelmed. "I didn't want to kill her! You know that!" Akito fell to his knees all of a sudden and the shock of it stopped his yelling. "What's wrong with my legs? I can't move my legs." His voice sounded dead, even to him. It felt like they weren't even there, from his waist down.  
  
The reflection squatted next to Akito and gave him an appraising look. It poked at one of his numb leg. (Hmmm...looks like you should start to serious start thinking about an heir.)  
  
"An...heir?"  
  
(Of course. You'll need one, now that you're finally going to die. I'd say you haven't got much time left.)  
  
When Akito looked up to his reflection, desperate for an answer, he found himself alone. "Don't leave me alone. Please, don't leave me alone!" His eyes burned with tears of fear. Now, even his reflection was gone. He was completely alone.  
  
"What the Hell's wrong with you, kid?"  
  
Akito turned his head sharply to find a very tall foreigner standing behind him. He was dressed in jeans with an old looking t-shirt. His hands were in his pockets and his head cocked slightly to one side as he looked at Akito with a puzzled expression. Akito's first thoughts, on seeing the man, were that he looked like a grown-up Momiji, what with the wavy blonde hair that fell around his shoulders.  
  
"Who are you?" Akito demanded, guardedly. He'd never had to meet a stranger alone, before. If there was business that had to be done with an outsider, he always had Kureno or Hatori with him. This man was definitely NOT a Souma.  
  
"Just passing through." The blonde man shrugged. He spoke with a heavy, ugly accent. He was ugly with a broad, blunt face and quite dark skin. "So, what's the problem, kid? You look like the world just ended."  
  
Akito ignored the insolent question. "You can't be just passing though. No one just passes through the estate. How did you get passed the guards?" Akito wished he could stand. He felt very vulnerable on the ground with this stranger looking down at him. What if this man was dangerous? All outsiders were threats, he might hurt the family. Akito would kill him first.  
  
The man laughed. "Your guards need better training and your wall isn't all that tall. I just climbed over when they wouldn't let me in." The stranger came closer and squatted down in front of Akito. "I don't suppose you can help me, kid? I'm looking for someone...umm...is there a reason you're just sitting in the mud?"  
  
"Because my legs aren't working, you idiot! Something's wrong with them and I need Hatori!" Akito exploded. He suddenly felt like crying. He was dying and this fool was just standing around asking stupid questions! He wished he had something to throw at this stupid, ugly foreigner.  
  
The stranger smacked Akito on the side of the head. "Don't get pissy, brat. Who's Hatori?"  
  
"My doctor." Akito rubbed his head. No one had ever hit him before, not like that, anyway. Ren had used to hurt him, but this hadn't really hurt. "Don't hit me, don't you know who I am?!" Akito thought everyone knew who he was.  
  
"Are you Kureno?"  
  
"Kureno? No. I'm Akito."  
  
"Oh. To bad. Well, then, I don't care who you are." He looked at Akito's legs again then poked one of them with a large, blunt finger. "You really can't feel your legs?" He sighed. "Jeeze, this just got more complicated. Oh, well. Let's go find your doctor, kid. I think I passed a hospital on my way here." He didn't hesitate a moment before he scooped up Akito and picked him up. "Shouldn't take long to get you there. Where're your parents? We should tell them where you're going." He started away with long strides towards the front gates of the estate.  
  
Akito was so taken aback by the brash stranger that, for a minute, he did nothing but hang on for fear that the stranger would drop him. "What do you think you're doing?! Put me down!" Akito put his hands on the stranger's chest and tried to push away, but the stranger was far stronger and didn't even break stride.  
  
"Stop squirming, kid, you'll fall. You gonna tell me where your parents are or am I gonna get nabbed for kidnapping if I just take you off?"  
  
"I'm hardly a child. My parents have nothing to do with me." That was true. Akito had never met his parents and he had no desire to. Really.  
  
"Right." The man laughed at this. "You can't be more than what? Fifteen?"  
  
"I'm nineteen!" Akito said indignantly. All right, so he was small. That was hardly his fault. He wasn't a child!  
  
The man carried Akito all the way through the estate, towards the front gate. All the while, he was at the receiving end of many incredulous stares and hasty bows when they realized who this stranger was carrying.  
  
"Boy, you Japanese folks sure are polite." The stranger commented.  
  
"They aren't bowing to you!" Akito could hate this man. "Who are you?" He asked, certain that he'd already asked it once. He could call out just one order and this man would be stopped. He could have this man killed, easily. Yet, Akito said nothing. 'He really doesn't know who I am.' It was the first time in a very long time that Akito had met someone who had no clue about who he was. The stranger wanted to help him even though he thought Akito was just some common, ordinary boy.  
  
"I'm Leon. Right, then. I think the hospital was this way..." The stranger walked right through the front gates, while the estate guards stared in disbelief. They all looked at Akito for some signal for what to do, but Akito wanted no help from them. They hadn't even been able to stop Leon from getting onto the estate, so what good would they be now. It wasn't like he was being kidnapped, after all. How this man knew Hatori was at the Hospital taking care of Rin, Akito had no idea.  
  
Outside the front gate, Akito saw a small white car parked at the sidewalk, just a short way from the front gate. The woman in the front seat looked very familiar. In fact...  
  
"Hey," Leon said, happily, as he looked to the right at three children walking towards the front gates of the estate. "There's my kid brother. Ya wanna meet him?"  
  
11:50am  
  
Shigure-  
  
'Why hasn't he called? It's been almost two hours, it shouldn't take this long. Even if he could find the Kami, Hatori should have called or...or something.' Shigure turned another page of the diary, trying to ease his anxiety. It didn't help. For all he knew, Hatori was dead and there was nothing he could do to help. He had to stay with Kyou and wait for the Kami to attack. 'What if something did happen? Hatori's no fighter. He should have waited for Ayame or me. He's so stubborn! What am I going to tell Ayame if Hatori is dead...no. I can't think like that. He's all right. He must be.' Shigure sighed and couldn't help but feel defeated even before the battle had begun. He was just a man. How could he fight a Kami?  
  
  
  
The pages of the diary were dry and, even as Shigure turned them he noticed that they were starting to crumble with age. The diary wouldn't last much longer. It didn't matter. There likely wouldn't be a next generation of Souma's, if Count D had his way. Maybe that was all for the best. If they were destroyed now, no more children would have to go through the terrible pain of simply being one of the cursed.  
  
'I can't think like that.' Shigure mentally shook himself. 'It's starting to get better, now. Yuki's getting stronger. Kyou's controlling his temper. Hatori's starting to get over Kana. Even Akito...he showed mercy to Tohru. It's starting to get better, I can't give up on us, not now! I promised I'd save us all. I promised Toma I'd make sure the cat was allowed into the family. We've all gone through so much, I can't give up.' His eyes narrowed as his fingers ran lightly over the words written by his predecessors and he imagined all the past generations of Souma's who'd lived and died with the pain of being cursed. Never being allowed simple human contact, to always have to be reserved and cautious. 'I will NOT give up!'  
  
Once, long ago, Shigure had vowed that he would save his family. He had promised himself that he would save them from themselves; Junko had told him that the family needed to be protected from themselves. She had been right. His family was so sick and there seemed to be nothing Shigure could do to help them.  
  
Kyou. It all rested on Kyou, Shigure was sure. It was in the book, just as Inu had written. The cat was...something. Inu hadn't come right out and said what the cat was or why it was important to the family. The way Inu had written it, made it sound as if the cat was more important and more powerful than even the head of the family.  
  
It would have saved Shigure a lot of trouble if his ancestor had bothered to just say what was so special about the cat, why the family depended on the cat so much.  
  
Shigure tried to imagine Kyou being more important than Akito, but it seemed impossible. All of his life, Shigure had been taught that the cat was nothing, a monster, even among the freakish Junikyu and not to be trusted. That was what the whole family was told. Shigure couldn't believe it, though. Not after knowing Toma and now Kyou. He'd watched Kyou grow-up and it was hard to imagine the shy little bookworm Shigure had known for so long as a dangerous monster.  
  
Someone was outside.  
  
Shigure watched the man from the window just over his desk. 'It's not a man, it's a Kami. It's him.' Shigure's hands tightened on the sides of the open window. 'Oh, god, it's him.' Shigure's sharp eyes focused on the face of the waiting man. Narrow, clever eyes and long dark hair that hung nearly to his shoulders. His skin was unnaturally white, like the white face of a geisha. 'He's found us.' Shigure had no logical reason for believing that the man in his front garden was Count D, only a feeling. 'What do I do?'  
  
There was so much he wanted to do, so much he'd never have the chance now. He'd never finish writing his story. He'd never get to tell Akito...  
  
'This is it.' Shigure realized, feeling numb all over. On his desk, for the first time since Rin had found the Dog's Diary little more than a week ago, Shigure had decided to look at it. The diary reminded Shigure of all the fruitless promises he'd made over the years. 'All these years, and it's all over. Count D has returned.'  
  
In the front garden the Kami stood with his hands clasped serenely in front of him. He was elegant looking, in an outfit that looked as if it cost more than Shigure's house and his skin inhumanly white. Shigure knew this was Count D. There could be no other person like this and, with his window open and a favorable breeze, Shigure could find no scent. He couldn't find a scent after Count D had left Ayame's house.  
  
Count D lifted his face and looked directly at Shigure.   
  
'I guess now I understand what was bothering Hatori.' Though Count D was smiling, he was definitely not human. Shigure knew that, but it didn't terrify him so much as it had Hatori. Though Hatori was very good at keeping his emotions under control, Shigure could tell when something really bothered him. 'I wonder what Hatori inherited from the dragon?' Every one of the Junikyu had one attribute from their animal, but Hatori was a bit of a mystery. After all, no one had ever seen a real dragon, so they didn't know what a dragon was like. Everyone had just assumed that Hatori had gotten his talent to steal memories from the dragon, but maybe Hatori could 'see' Count D for what he truly was. How frightening would that be?  
  
Shigure hated not being in control. There was to much that could go wrong if he wasn't in control. He had no idea what was going on and he was completely helpless to save his family. Feeling slightly faint, Shigure extinguished his cigarette and took off his glasses, folding them carefully on his desk. 'I guess I won't be needing them after this.' He knew would likely die in the next few minutes.  
  
As he made his way out of the house, Shigure paused in the living room. Kyou was still sleeping off his sickness, Tohru was setting out lunch while, Yuki was telling Tohru about the job hunt he'd gone on earlier that day.  
  
"I'm going out for a bit." Shigure announced with, what he hoped, was his normal careless tone. "Don't hold lunch for me, Tohru-kun."  
  
She smiled at him. "As you like, Shigure-san. When will you be home?"  
  
Shigure had to struggle to keep the smile on his face as he knew that he probably wouldn't be returning. From what he'd gathered from Inu's diary, Count D would probably kill him now. He'd killed the first cat, so why not a dog? "As soon as I can. Everyone, take care." If Shigure had to die, he would die defending his family. 'There was so much I wanted to do before I die.' Shigure's heart began to beat faster and faster. 'I promised to make the family healthy and I was willing to do anything. I put innocent Tohru-kun in danger by exposing her to Akito. I hurt Akito by slowly taking away members of the family. I let Momiji see what Hatori did to his mother so Momiji would have a better home with Hatori. I kept secrets and lied to the people I love. I guess it was all for nothing, in the end.'  
  
So Shigure left the house and closed the door firmly behind him. The man was still waiting in the front garden and Shigure squared his shoulders. The time for playing the clown was done.  
  
"Greetings." The man said softly, giving Shigure a slight bow. "I've been waiting to meet you, dog of the Zodiac."  
  
Shigure ignored the pleasantries. "You can't have my children." His voice hard, Shigure faced the enemy of his family. He remembered the first page of the diary and the faded, ancient drawing of the Count D, the one who'd so injured the Souma family. It was exactly the same face. In the most terrifying moment of his life Shigure stood firm. "I'll kill you before I let you have my children." He would. If he died in the effort, Shigure would kill Count D.  
  
"You seem to know me." The Kami's voice was like liquid chocolate and threatened to roll over Shigure's mind into a stupor. "I believe you have made a mistake."  
  
Shigure shook his head to keep himself out of the Kami's spell. "I know enough and there is no mistake. Leave us alone." Shigure had no intention of letting Count D just walk away. If he could get the Kami to turn his back, though, Shigure intended to attack. If he could get his hands around that delicate looking neck, maybe he could strangle the Kami. It was a problem Shigure had hoped he'd never have to worry about. How does one kill a Kami?  
  
"What you want is not an issue. I have what your family needs. You have such problems and so much pain, hanging over your family like a black cloud."   
  
Shigure hunched down slightly and his lips flared back away from his teeth. "I won't let you have them." He repeated, his vision narrowing down until he was totally focused on Count D. Without another moment's hesitation, Shigure charge, running full force at Count D.  
  
There was no fear on the face of Count D.  
  
Shigure collapsed when he was just feet from Count D. As if all of his energy vanished very suddenly, Shigure found that he could no longer stand or even move. He was completely helpless and fell to his knees, but he was close enough that one hand caught on Count D's robes and he hung on desperately, even after the fall.  
  
"Poor dog."  
  
Shigure hated the voice. This was where he'd die. It was all so pitiful. In the end, he hadn't even been able to do a single thing to defend the family. The children were still in the house, completely unaware of any danger. 'I should have told them to run. Should have warned them.'  
  
A hand landed on Shigure's head, petting him gently. "You are so afraid. I will not harm your children and I am no danger to your family. You know only part of the story." The hand brought such bliss, it was as if all the problems and worries in Shigure's life vanished at that simple touch.  
  
"Get away..." Shigure's voice lacked any rancor. He could barely move. His whole body felt very pleasant. The world looked much nicer now that the pretty man was touching him.   
  
"Hey! You!" It was Kyou's voice that shouted and Shigure managed to turn his head just enough to see Kyou running towards them.  
  
A black shadow flew out of the sky. It looked like a shadow, though how a shadow could be fluttering through the air in the middle of the day, Shigure had no idea. It swooped closer and closer until Shigure could see the face of the shadow. The stark white face was the same as that of Count D, whose hands were still on Shigure. Long dark hair, longer even than Ayame's, swirled in the wind behind him. The shadow flew low over them before it grabbed Kyou by one arm, carrying him into the air. The shadow took the kicking and swearing Kyou right back to Kyou's bedroom, through the open bedroom window.  
  
'Two of them?'  
  
Count D scowled at where the shadowy flying person had vanished into Kyou's bedroom. "Papa?" Count D moved to go, but Shigure hung onto his robes as tightly as he could. "You must release me." Count D said kindly as he started to pry open Shigure's clenched fingers. "Your cat is in great danger."  
  
"You'll hurt him." Shigure felt so damned weak! Count D easily opened Shigure's hand, but held it for a moment. Shigure sobbed as he thought about the poor, innocent children at the mercy of this monster and that black shadow. "They're just children. They haven't lived yet. Please...don't hurt my children."   
  
"I give you my word, I will not harm your children." The hands of Count D vanished just a moment before he went flying up to Kyou's room, too.  
  
Shigure was left alone in his front garden, unable to move or speak, and laying in the mud. 'Two of them. I don't understand.' It was only a heartbeat before the brilliant colored Count D flew out of the window and raced as quickly as he could away from Shigure's house, not even bothering to look at Shigure when he passed.  
  
Kyou-  
  
There was no way Kyou was going to let his older cousin get attacked in their own home! Shigure was an idiot, but he was family!   
  
"Hey! You!" He got no further when something seized him by the arms and, before he knew what was happening, he was airborne. "Fuck!" He screamed, but the flight didn't last long. He barely had time to look down and see the horrified look on the face of the man with Shigure before he was thrown into his bedroom. Whatever had picked him up off the ground released him and Kyou rolled across the floor and managed to stop his roll before he hit the wall.  
  
When Kyou looked up, ready to fight, there was a man standing over him. A man who reminded Kyou, at first, of a geisha he'd once seen. An unnaturally white face with bright make-up. Long, long hair that flowed like water over his shoulders and far down his back. He recognized the face at once as the dreadful man in his nightmare. 'This isn't happening.' Kyou told himself. 'Nightmares aren't real. Maybe I'm still sleeping.'  
  
"Ah...my sweet cat. How I've missed you."  
  
Kyou had a very bad feeling about this.  
  
12:00 Midday-  
  
Count D-  
  
D wasn't really all that surprised to see his papa. He knew his papa was watching this family, ever since he'd gotten a phone call from his papa back in San Francisco. 'Curse his timing!' D thought, petting the hand of the black haired dog one last time before he gave chase. If he was going to help this family, the first thing he had to do was get his papa away from them.  
  
He found his papa smiling at the cat, who was crouched on the floor, one hand itching for the bracelet on his wrist.  
  
D's eyes were, for just a moment, glued on that bracelet. It was apart of him, he knew it without being told. He couldn't fight his papa and win, that was impossible. He simply wasn't strong enough and never would be. "Papa..."  
  
"Ah, my dear child. It has been such a long time since we've been together." Papa D didn't look at D when he spoke but kept his eyes on the young cat.   
  
The dog had been right, this cat was nothing but a child. D could also see why his papa wanted the cat. 'He has such potential.' In one moment, D realized the secret of the cat and what it was truly supposed to be. It was the bracelet that caused all the pain in this family. 'I have to get the bracelet off him!'  
  
The cat attacked, launching himself at Papa D, but Papa D was to fast and lashed out with one hand. Papa D's razor sharp fingernails slashed at the cat's face and he fell, one hand at his face. He didn't cry out, though, just sat on the floor and shook, trying to control his pain, no doubt.  
  
Papa D licked at the blood on his fingernails, savoring each drop as though it were honey. "Delicious." He muttered. He moved quickly, seizing the cat's wrist with the bracelet and holding it high over the cat's head.  
  
"Don't touch me!" The cat snarled, pulling at his arm desperate to get free.  
  
"Hush, now." Papa D put his other hand around the cat's throat and held him securely. "This will only take a moment."  
  
"No!" D shouted, taking hold of his papa's arm. "You can not do this, he is a child!"  
  
Papa D wasn't going to be accommodating, though. "I think it must be nearly midday, don't you?" He gave D a very nasty smile.  
  
"What are you..." He didn't finish. There was a terrible burst of pain in his back and D knew Leon had been injured.   
  
"You felt that?" Papa D's smiled faltered. "Such weakness. I should expect nothing less from you. Imperfect and ugly as you are. You have allowed yourself to become tied to that human of yours. Still, it is interesting. I only meant for the woman to steal that child of yours, what do you call him? Christopher?"  
  
D's eyes opened wide in fear. What had his papa done to Chris? What was wrong with Leon?  
  
The pain in D's back only intensified, but he feared what would happen if he left his papa here with such a creature of power at this cat. The pain surged again and D forgot all about the Zodiac family and the helpless children at his papa's mercy. He turned and left, feeling slightly guilty about doing so, though not enough to change his mind. No matter what the circumstance, Leon was far more important than this Zodiac family. D raced passed the dog, still laying in the garden, and made his way towards Leon.  
  
Papa D-  
  
He watched his only child run towards the human he'd allowed himself to become attached to. 'That fool.' Then he turned his attention back to the struggling boy in his hands. "Now, we will take care of that little problem of yours."  
  
"I don't have a problem!" The cat aimed a punch at Papa D, but his arm wasn't quite long enough.  
  
"You just do not know it, yet. Let us rid you of that filthy human blood." He began the process of pulling the human pollution out of the beautiful cat. "You need purification."  
  
The young cat screamed.  
  
Downstairs-  
  
Tohru-  
  
There was a hard thump from upstairs and both Yuki and Torhu looked up.  
  
"Kyou probably just fell out of bed." Yuki suggested, though he didn't look entirely convinced.  
  
"Maybe we should check on him." Tohru began to rise, worried about her friend. Kyou was always so kind to her and she wanted to make sure he was all right. After all, when she'd gotten sick, he'd made soup for her and she hadn't made him anything to eat. Yuki had told her that when Kyou got sick, on very rare occasions, he didn't like to eat. "He might have hurt himself, he's still not well, after all."  
  
"I wouldn't." Yuki turned back to his lunch and picked up his teacup. "Kyou's tough and a little fall won't hurt him, even if he is sick. Besides, the last thing he wants is for you to see him looking foolish. Just leave him be."  
  
Tohru reluctantly did as Yuki told her, but she told herself that she'd bring him up some tea later. He hadn't eaten all day and that couldn't be good for him. Still, Kyou was one of the proudest people Tohru had ever met. He would rather die than look silly.  
  
A scream pierced the air so suddenly and so loudly that Yuki was surprised and dropped his tea cup, shattering it on the table.  
  
"That's Kyou!" Tohru cried, jumping to her feet, just moments after Yuki. They raced up the stairs with Yuki taking them two at a time and Tohru just behind him. The scream went on and on, endlessly. It was a terrible sound, like someone were ripping Kyou's soul out.  
  
Yuki yanked open the door of Kyou's bedroom and stepped only one step inside before he froze and Tohru put a hand to her mouth from the horror of what she saw.  
  
Kyou was on his knees before an elaborately dressed stranger with long hair. The stranger held one of Kyou's hands high above his head, so high that Kyou's arm was in danger of dislocating. The stranger's other hand was wrapped tightly around Kyou's throat. Kyou's eyes were wide and staring, pinpoints of red, and, as he screamed, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. His entire body was tensed and rigid, so stiff that Tohru could see the veins standing out on Kyou's arms.  
  
Yuki's eyes narrowed down to slats and he charged the stranger.  
  
"Little rat?" The stranger released Kyou's throat and caught Yuki by his. The moment his throat was free, Kyou nearly collapsed, panting for breath, and was held upright only by the stranger holding his arm. "You should not overestimate yourself."   
  
It was the first time Tohru had ever seen Yuki so effortlessly, so cleanly, stopped dead in his tracks. Tohru knew Yuki was remarkably strong and even faster than he was strong, but it was as if he was nothing compared to this awful stranger. The stranger threw Yuki like a rag doll, and he crashed into Tohru before she had a chance to move. A puff of smoke and Yuki was a small rat.  
  
The stranger blinked and seemed surprised. "She affects you? A common bird? How odd. I suppose it only proves the power of the mind over reality." His hand went back to Kyou's throat. Kyou's body tensed again and the screamed resumed.  
  
Tohru looked down at Yuki, now powerless, and then to the stranger who was torturing Kyou, though Tohru couldn't figure out how. How could a simple touch hurt Kyou so much? 'I have to do something!' She stood shakily. 'I-I can't just sit here!' She was afraid, she knew she couldn't possibly fight anyone who could beat Yuki or Kyou so easily. Kyou was screaming. Yuki was helpless. Shigure was nowhere to be seen. 'I have to.' Tohru ran to the stranger and latched onto the arm that was holding Kyou's arm above his head. "Let him go!" Tohru cried.  
  
The strange turned his eyes on Tohru and she felt her insides start to quake. "Common bird. Ugly, plain thing." He said. "You are of no interest to me." He released Kyou's hand long enough to throw Tohru back.   
  
Tohru sailed back before she could even scream and went right out the open window. In just a split second, watching the ground getting closer and closer, Tohru's heart froze and she realized something, for the first time since her mom had died. 'I don't want to die!' She closer her eyes and everything changed.  
  
Sofu-  
  
Sofu D watched when the girl fell and watched as she changed. The poor child had no idea of who she was, but now her body forced her to remember. As she fell, about half way to the earth, her body suddenly shrank. Her empty dress fluttered to the earth and the only remnants of the girl was a tiny ball of feathers, which Sofu D caught in his strong hands.  
  
He looked down at the small brown and grey bird and smiled at her. "Beautiful child. Stay with me a while. I have much to do." The little nightingale was trembling when she looked up at him with eyes like tiny black jewels. "Come with me and I shall take you somewhere safe." Sofu D opened his billowing black robes and tucked the little Tohru-nightingale into a pocket. She would be safe there, while he dealt with his son.  
  
He could have interfered at any time, but it was best this way. The cat would have to lose its humanity and there was no way to lessen the pain. Better to let the one already guilty of the crime to correct at least part of it. The cat would blame the guilty one and that was as it should be. There was no sense in making this remarkable family bitter against the youngest D or Sofu for undoing what had been done.  
  
The screaming stopped very suddenly and Sofu knew it was over. When he entered the room, he saw the tiny, frantic rat scurrying on the floor near the unconscious cat. Sofu's child stood over the cat. The cat twitched involuntarily every few seconds and blood was flowing freely from it's ears, nose, and mouth. Even small drops of blood leaked from the child's eyes, as if he were crying blood.  
  
"Father?!"  
  
"Did you not expect me?" Sofu approached slowly, knowing he had the advantage. There was no struggle, no question of who was superior in this situation. "Surely you did not think I would leave my precious grandchild alone where you might get to close to him. And this?" He looked at the rat, now perfectly still and watching the conversation between the two Kami. "It is time for your crime to be corrected. Now my grandchild is strong enough to be left on his own and I will have that bracelet. You have caused much pain. All for the sake of his blood." Sofu pointed at the cat. "This will be tolerated no longer. Leave."  
  
Sofu's child was furious, his madness shining through his eyes, but he turned and fled.  
  
"Who are you!?" It was the little rat who spoke and Sofu bent down to look at him. The little rat looked as angry as a rat could, but Sofu could also tell the child was frightened.  
  
Sofu reached one finger down and gave the rat a little pat on the head. "A word of advice, though. The young lady who was with you..."  
  
"Tohru? Where is she?" The rat demanded.  
  
"Safe. However, she is not a human girl. You need no change your shape when embraced by her. That is all in your mind." Sofu turned and left then. The cat would sort itself out and then Sofu's grandchild would deal with it. Sofu would be busy after he took the little nightingale back to the petshop.  
  
At the estate-  
  
Ren-  
  
'It's now or never.' Ren decided, her eyes fixed on the little blonde boy who stood on the sidewalk. He was walking with two of the younger Souma kids, though Ren couldn't recall their names. All her dreams resting in that little blonde child.  
  
She hadn't wanted to do this right outside the estate, but she felt as if she were running out of time. This was the first time she'd seen the boy out of the company of the petshop owner or his older brother, both of whom she'd been told were dangerous. Even the small animal who took the boy around town was quite deadly, according to Dr. D. She knew quite well that neither of the Souma kids would be able to stop her.  
  
Just as they were walking up the sidewalk and Ren popped open her car door, ready to grab the boy, her eyes were drawn to the estate gates.  
  
Akito!  
  
Akito was being carried by a man and Ren cursed under her breath. It was the older brother of the boy she was supposed to take. Well, she wasn't about to give up the best opportunity to get this all over with. She was impatient to for her dream. No stupid foreigner was going to stand in her way!  
  
Ren's eyes darkened and narrowed. She hadn't seen Akito for years, not since he'd banished her from the estate. 'Arrogant little shit.' Ren's focus was now on Akito very firmly. Ren's hand went involuntarily to her scarred face. She would never forget that day when Akito had destroyed her life. She'd been beautiful once, until that spoiled, selfish child had scarred her for life.   
  
Her hand drifted from her face down to the seat next to her where the gun lay. It was difficult to get guns in Japan, but Dr. D had supplied it. He'd suggested that she might need it, though at the time Ren had thought it a little silly to have to use a gun just to kidnap one child. Now, it would be useful. She fastened the silencer to the barrel of the gun with an audible click. 'Akito's finally going to be of use to someone.' She aimed the gun out the open window of her car. 'He'll be a nice distraction.' Akito looked very vulnerable.  
  
The big brother saw her, though. No one else was looking at her, but his eyes fell on her for some reason moment's before Akito saw her. Ren cursed and pulled the trigger. She didn't figure that the big brother would protect Akito. The blonde man turned his back and shielded Akito with his own body. He jerked once, as the bullet struck him in the back, before he sunk down to the ground and Akito fell out of his arms.  
  
Leon-  
  
Leon saw the woman with the gun and reacted without thinking. He'd been shot before, several times in the line of duty, but he never got used to the terrible pain of having a bullet embedded into his body. He knew it was going to hurt when he turned his back on the gun woman and, for the first time since he'd come to Japan, he missed Jill's presence. It would have been good to have her gun to back him up.  
  
Leon was pretty sure the woman wasn't aiming at him, he had no enemies here and even the Black Scorpion couldn't possibly know he was hunting them. That left the boy in his arms and Leon realized, belatedly, that perhaps he wasn't just totting around some ordinary kid.  
  
"Ren!" Akito saw the woman and whispered the name like a curse, one of his hand clenching around Leon's sleeve.  
  
The woman raised her gun with a hateful look on her face and Leon did the only thing he could do. He turned around and shielded the little Akito with his body. It was stupid, but the only thing Leon could think to do. He couldn't let the kid get shot.  
  
There was a loud bang, like a crack of thunder, and a hot poker jabbed into Leon's back. That's what it felt like, anyway. His legs gave away when agony ripped through his body and dropped Akito. The pain blazed for just a moment before it began to fade along with all the light in the world. Everything turned dark.  
  
'Chris...' Leon's weak thoughts went to his brother. He couldn't die, not with Chris watching only feet away. 'D...take care of him. Take care of yourself.'  
  
In the great empty void now surrounding Leon's consciousness, he thought he heard a familiar voice call out to him. "Do not leave me."  
  
Hiro-  
  
The woman was in a car just next to them and Kisa screamed when she saw the gun. Hiro felt his throat close up at the sight of the gun. It was pointed at Akito and Hiro had no idea what to do. If Akito died...  
  
The man holding Akito turned his back and took the bullet for him. It was the bravest thing Hiro had ever seen.  
  
After that, it all happened so fast. While Hiro grabbed Kisa's arm to pull her away from the crazy old lady in the car, he hadn't grabbed the boy that they'd found. Instead, the boy who hadn't spoke a word during their short trip to the estate, began to run forward towards the fallen man and ignored the crazy woman. There was no time to yell a warning, the woman surged out of her car and grabbed the boy by the arm, pulling him in before he even knew what was happening.  
  
Kisa held onto Hiro for all she was worth, no doubt terrified.   
  
All of a sudden, they were both pushed to the side as someone came barreling passed them. It was Kureno. He ran to the car, a terribly cold look on his face, but it was too late. The car began to pull away even as the estate guards ran to the entrance.   
  
Kureno grabbed the door handle of the car, but it started up and, though Kureno stayed attached to the door for as long as he could, he eventually had to let go and jut watch the car drive away. The car was gone in seconds, leaving behind only a screech of tires and a trail of exhaust and chaos in its wake.  
  
The silence was almost deafening at first and Hiro couldn't take his eyes off the car, speeding away. He couldn't look away even when the guards began shouting to one another to call for an ambulance. Hatori and Ayame came running from wherever they'd been, as did most of the people on the estate, and Hatori began shouting orders to everyone. They must have heard the gunshot. The man who'd taken the bullet for Akito wasn't moving and Hatori was having Ayame hold the man's head still, for fear of damage to the spine.  
  
"He's losing blood!" Hatori snapped. "Has someone called that ambulance?! Ayame, stop crying, I need you!"  
  
Ayame was in tears, though his hands were steady where he held the man's head. "Oh, Leon...I'm so sorry. I never meant..." He was on the verge of a break down and only the seriousness of the situation was keeping him together. "This is all my fault."  
  
"Stop it!" Hatori looked up and his eyes landed on Hiro and Kisa. "Hiro! Come here!" It wasn't a tone that even Hiro could argue with. He went to Hatori as ordered and got down on his knees to do whatever Hatori asked him to. "Take off your shirt. We need it as a bandage." Hiro did it quickly and let Hatori press his shirt into the gaping wound in the man's back. "Now, Kisa," Hatori looked from Hiro to Kisa. "Go to my house and get my black bag, I have things I need. When you get to my house, call the hospital and tell them I'll be arriving shortly with a patient, they need to be ready. Tell them what happened. Hiro, you know how to take a pulse. Feel his wrist and tell me what it is."  
  
Kisa nodded shakily and then took off running.  
  
"I want him to have the best room!" Akito was now leaning against Ritsu, who'd been visiting the estate. He leaned heavily, putting almost no weight on his legs for some reason. "He will get the best of care!"  
  
"I'll see he gets what he needs." Hatori assured Akito as he worked, though that apparently wasn't enough to satisfy Akito.  
  
"No," Akito said, firmly. "Not what he needs, the best! You will see to him personally. This man saved my life and he might lose his own because of it. I will not allow that, Hatori. If you're not up to his care, then send for other doctors who are. The family will pay for his care."  
  
Hatori nodded sharply, but never once looked up from his work.  
  
Akito wasn't standing up, though he was unharmed. Hiro looked carefully at his God and was shocked at what he saw. Sanity. Hiro had never seen Akito look so in touch with reality. Akito knew he'd almost died and he knew whose fault that was. Hiro wondered if Akito would be more dangerous sane.  
  
"It's falling." Hiro told Hatori in a small voice when he'd finished his counting of the pulse. When he told Hatori the exact number of the falling pulse rate, Hatori looked even more grim than usual.  
  
One of the estate guards tried to take Akito from Ritsu, but Akito would have none of it. "Put me down!" Akito screamed, looking more furious that Hiro had ever seen him. He latched his arms around Ritsu, who looked as frightened as everyone else and was using all his meager strength to hold up Akito. "You've failed us all!" Akito snarled at the guards. "I would have died today if this outsider hadn't been here! All of you," He looked around at the assembled estate guards, "I want the estate searched for more danger. You will turn my estate upside-down and if anyone if found to have been helping Ren, they will be brought to me." His tone promised an awful punishment to whoever would have helped Ren.  
  
The estate guards all bowed and then took off at once, back into the estate.  
  
"Kureno!" Akito called, and the rooster went to him quickly. Kureno slipped one arm under Akito's taking a little of the weight off Ritsu, though he didn't take him all together.  
  
"Yes, Akito." It wasn't a question, but a practiced response saying that Kureno was ready and willing to do whatever Akito ordered.  
  
"Find her." Akito said in a dreadfully calm voice, his eyes looking after where the white car had vanished. His eyes shifted to where Hatori was frantically trying to save the blonde man's life. The sidewalk was stained with blood now, despite the pressure bandage Hiro was pressing down with all his weight on. "I made the mistake once of simply having her memories taken and exiling her from the estate. I will not make the same mistake twice." His cold eyes met Kureno's. "Kill her for me."  
  
"Yes, Akito!" Kureno didn't wait before he let go of Akito, who leaned against Ritsu again, and took off running. He didn't run after Ren, as Hiro half expected him to. Instead, Kureno went back into the estate and came roaring out moments later on his motorcycle and sped down the street until he was out of sight, hot on Ren's trail.  
  
Ren-  
  
Ren lunged out of her car, knowing that the estate guards would come running at any moment. She didn't care that Akito and any other number of people on the streets, including Kureno was now running towards her, had seen her shot the blonde man. Ren was close and easily took the blonde kid. She managed to grab the blonde boy's arm and haul him into her car.  
  
He made not a sound, but he did kick her in the chest when she threw him over her to the passenger seat. Ren hit him in the side of the head with the butt of her gun and the little boy dropped like a stone. Soon, she couldn't even see the estate in her rear view mirror.  
  
They wouldn't be able to catch her and now...now she was the head of the Souma family! Ren felt as if she was high, she was so happy and it all felt very unreal. Finally, she had what she'd always wanted. She took the child and now Dr. D would deliver on his side of the deal and make her the head of the Souma family.   
  
Ren started to laugh. It was a hysterical laughter, but she didn't care. It was finally all hers.  
  
She glanced at the child next to her, not caring about the stain of blood soaking into his hair or the fact that he hadn't even opened his eyes since she'd hit him. 'Now I just have to find someplace to keep you.' There was only one place Ren could think of only one place where she could put a kidnapped child. A place where no one ever looked for children or cared about them. She should know, her nephew, Kureno, had lived there for many years before Akito had bought him.  
  
The Pits.  
  
Kyou-  
  
Everything hurt.  
  
Kyou pried open his eyes and the whole world looked different. The colors were brighter and the smells, which had always been sharp to him, were even more distinct. Sounds were more vibrant than they had been before.  
  
Kyou looked down at his hands. He...looked the same. When he looked in the tiny mirror hanging on his wall, his face still looked back at him. Nothing had changed. Everything had changed.  
  
"Kyou? Kyou? Are you all right?"  
  
Kyou looked down and there was Yuki, as a tiny grey rat. "Yuki?" Kyou's voice sounded strange.  
  
"Yes, of course it's me!" Yuki snapped. "Are you all right?"  
  
"I...I don't know." Kyou felt a terrible pain in his stomach and he retched almost instantly. With his hands at his stomach, Kyou ended up on his knees, throwing up all over the floor. Thankfully, Yuki had managed to get to a safe place and was untouched by the...the blood. Kyou stared at what he'd thrown up. Bright red blood. "What's going on?" He said to himself.  
  
"Call Hatori!" Yuki shouted. "That guy did something to you. Call Hatori." Yuki scampered up to the windowsill and looked down at the front garden, below. "Honda-san fell out the window, but I can't see her, now!"  
  
That got Kyou's attention and he forced himself to his feet. Staggering to the window he looked down. There was no sign of Tohru, though he did notice Shigure laying in the garden. The pain hit him again and Kyou doubled over, retching again. More blood. It splattered everywhere and Kyou was desperately afraid. "What do I do?" He asked, wiping his bloody lips with the back of his hand.  
  
"Call Hatori!" Yuki nearly yelled. "He'll help you."  
  
"What do I do?" Kyou repeated himself, feeling panic trying to take over his mind. His eyes landed on the cell phone he'd dropped on the floor. He dialed Hatori's number with shaking fingers, but there was no answer except for a dial tone. "He's not answering." Kyou stood up again, still holding the cell phone. The only thought in his mind was that he had to find help. All that blood... Kyou's hand went to his bracelet and found blood on it. Just like last night, his bracelet seemed to be leaking blood. No, that wasn't possible. The blood was from him throwing up. Kyou left his room, unsteady and dazed from how changed the world seemed to be.  
  
Yuki yelled after him to stay put. "You're still sick! You shouldn't go anywhere!"   
  
Kyou didn't listen. He left the house with lingering pain in his stomach. Though he paused to check on Shigure, there was nothing his cousin could do for him. Shigure looked as if he were asleep except that his eyes were wide open. He didn't seem able to move at all. So Kyou left Shigure, confident that Yuki would help him when he turned back into a human, and went in search of some kind of help with the cell phone still in his hand. He felt as if the monster inside him were trying to claw its way to the surface.  
  
Count D-  
  
Count D watched as the human's loaded his Leon into an ambulance and hurried away with him. Anger seethed inside of D, threatening to boil over. From what he heard the humans saying, little Chris had been taken and now Leon was in mortal danger.  
  
-Tet-chan.- D summonsed his favorite pet.  
  
-Yes?- Tet-chan answered all the way from the petshop. D knew his Tet-chan was setting the table for dinner for his master, but it was a dinner that would not be eaten that night.  
  
-Come to me, Tet-chan. I have an errand for you.-  
  
To be continued...  
  
Thanks to all reviewers, all of your comments are very helpful. I'll give proper response next chapter.  
  
Phew! This was a hard chapter to get done! I hope everyone enjoyed it. 


	19. Back in the Pit

Long Denied  
  
Chapter 19: Back in the Pit  
  
Yuki -  
  
Yuki thought it was the single longest transformation in his entire life. It had been useless to call after Kyou and there was no way Yuki's little rat form could catch up with his cousin, especially after Kyou went down the stairs. So, Yuki settled for cursing under his breath at Kyou, those three strangers, life and fate as he tried to figure out a plan. He had to get in contact with Hatori, if anyone could figure out what was wrong with Kyou, it would be Hatori. It just wasn't natural for anyone to start vomiting blood. He also had to find Tohru. As much as Yuki cared for Tohru, he was realistic enough to know Tohru couldn't take care of herself. If she were hurt, he'd have to find her quickly.   
  
'Kyou can't take care of himself, either.' Yuki thought, angrily. 'He should have stayed with me till I transformed and then I could have helped him. No! He had to wander away half dead. He threw up all that blood.' Yuki felt vaguely faint at the memory. He'd never seen so much blood in his whole life. 'I can't believe he could even stand up after that.'  
  
Left alone after Kyou staggered out of the house, Yuki made the painfully long trip down the stairs. As a rat, it was a very long trip. Not for the first time, Yuki hated his tiny form. He was the worst off of all the Junikyu except for Hatori, who was completely helpless as a sea horse. At least everyone else could at least manage stairs in their cursed form!  
  
Yuki had never had to deal with an emergency situation in his rat form before and something so simple as descending a stairway was suddenly a major challenge. It took forever to get to the bottom and when he finally did he was terribly out of breath as well as confused and scared. He didn't change back until he was in the living room and, by then, he was much too lost in the grips of panic to just go back upstairs and grab his clothes. Instead, he picked up one of Shigure's discarded kimono's that had been just left laying around and threw it on. The robe was far too big, but it was enough to cover Yuki's modesty. He ran outside and skid to a stop where Shigure was trying to get up.   
  
Shigure looked terrible and he stared into space with a distant smile on his lips. It was as if his mind was far, far away.  
  
"Get up, Shigure." Yuki said, shaking Shigure's shoulder. It was strange to see Shigure so still and silent. "Shigure, can you hear me?" Yuki was not used panicking, but this might be an exception. Kyou wandered off after vomiting so much blood and Tohru just vanishing without a trace and now Shigure acting like he'd lost his mind. Yes, this was definitely a justified situation for panicking. "Come on, Shigure. I need you! Please!"  
  
Very slowly, almost painfully, Shigure blinked and focused on Yuki. "Y-Yuki?" He took a deep, shuddering breath and began to struggle to sit up. "What's happening? Where is he?"  
  
"I don't know. What's wrong with you? We have to find Tohru and Kyou." Yuki helped Shigure to stand, letting his cousin lean on him until Shigure got his balance. "There were three guys, but all of them looked just alike, except for their hair and what they wore. Honda-san fell out the window and Kyou's hurt, but I don't know how. He was throwing up blood and then ran off, I don't know where he's gone." Yuki tried to calm himself, but it wasn't working well. In the past year or so he'd gotten close to Tohru and Kyou, they were two of the main parts of his life and now they were gone. Still, Yuki calmed his breathing. The last thing he needed now was an asthma attack.  
  
Shigure blinked at Yuki. "Three guys? You saw them, too?"  
  
"Of course I saw them!" Yuki snapped. "One of them tried to kill Kyou, I think. He threw Toh...Honda-san out the window."  
  
"Which one?" Shigure's hand tightened on Yuki's shoulder and there was a strangely intense look in his eyes that Yuki had never seen before.  
  
"I don't know, they all looked the same. All but the hair. The one that hurt Kyou had very long hair. Another tried to stop the long haired one, he had only shoulder-length hair, but he left when the first one said someone had gotten shot and a child had been kidnapped."  
  
Shigure sucked in a deep breath and mumbled. "He tried to help Kyou. It wasn't him." Then, in a louder voice, Shigure asked, "What happened to the man hurting Kyou? Where'd he go?"  
  
"The third one came in, but he was wearing a hooded cloak, so I couldn't see his face well. He chased the other one off and..." Yuki paused and remembered the strange words. "He said Tohru wasn't human, that we didn't have to transform when she hugged us."  
  
Shigure didn't seem to be listening. "Three of them. Two helped and one...only one tried to hurt Kyou. She is human. I guess that explains her scent. Only one..." It seemed as if a light dawned in Shigure's eyes, a great realization. Shigure stood up straight and started off as quickly as he could. "The estate! Come on, Yuki, Kyou might have gone to the estate." He slapped Yuki's shoulder and they began to make their way slowly down the path.  
  
"Why on Earth would Kyou go to the estate?" Yuki asked. "He'd go to Kazuma's dojo. That's his home. What about Honda-san? We have to find her, she could be hurt!"  
  
"Tohru...we can't help her now. You said she fell out the window, but she's obviously not here. We'll look for her while we look for Kyou. Send your rats out to hunt for her. Maybe she was disoriented and wandered into the forest. We'll try Kazuma's dojo next. We have to find Kyou.We don't know where he went and the estate's closer. Besides, I have to check on Akito." Yuki was absolutely certain that Shigure wasn't telling him something, but whatever Shigure was thinking, he kept a secret.  
  
Kyou-  
  
Kyou was in the middle of the city when he thought to call Kazuma again. He really had no idea where he was, except that there weren't a lot of people on the streets and the buildings had gone from the upscale offices and apartments of downtown to buildings that looked ready to collapse. The streets were filled with potholes and lined with patch marks. Even the sidewalks were showing signs of crumbling. Kyou's fingers felt wrong as he dialed Kazuma's number, but everything felt wrong. It felt like he was inside someone else's body.  
  
-Hello?-  
  
"Matsu?" Kyou recognized the voice of one of his master's students and he knew he must have interrupted a class. "Is master there?"  
  
-Yeah, sure, Kyou. Hold on.- There was a quiet moment and Kyou knew Matsu was getting Kazuma.  
  
-Kyou? What's going on? I was worried when you hung up last time.-  
  
Kyou kept walking, but held the cell phone to his ear as if his life depended on the voice at the other end. The solid, dependable voice that always soothed away his nightmares. "I'm lost, master." Kyou's voice sounded odd to him and he wondered if his master could hear it. "I feel...strange. I think I'm still sick." As strange as it sounded, Kyou felt as if he had been reborn. Everything felt different. He felt like his whole body was charged with electricity, he couldn't stop the slight shaking of his body, and his skin felt like there were bugs crawling all over him. Something was definitely not right. Of course, it didn't feel bad, either. Kyou felt...alive. Like he had so much energy he didn't know what to do with it.  
  
-Where are you? Are you still at Shigure's house?-  
  
"No, master." Kyou could imagine his kind master running out of the house to come see him, but Kyou didn't want Kazuma to go to any trouble. "I'm not sure where I am." The city all around him looked strange. Kyou had wandered into the city at some point, but he wasn't really paying attention to where he was going. Not a single one of the buildings looked familiar and it wasn't all that surprising. It wasn't as if he went out often unless he was with Tohru or Yuki and they both knew this city far better than Kyou did. He really had no need to go anywhere but to school and maybe to walk Tohru to the store or pick her up from work.  
  
Kyou paused and looked up at the still high sun and felt another surge of strength and energy. This had been happening ever since he'd left Shigure's house, like a slow building of power. Kyou could feel the sunlight running through him. Like water, the power of the sun ran through every inch of his body and Kyou had never felt so insanely strong. The problem was that Kyou had no idea how to get rid of all this energy, it just kept building and building. He felt like he would explode.  
  
-Kyou? Kyou, are you still there?!-  
  
When Kazuma's voice grew louder, Kyou realized he hadn't been listening. "Huh?" The sun was so warm on his skin. He was feeling better, so much better than he had back in his room. Of course, then he'd been throwing up blood. Kyou wanted to run. "Yes?" Kyou paused and turned his face up to the sun, reveling in the warmth and the light that shone through his closed eyelids.  
  
-Stay where you are, Kyou!- Kazuma ordered, his tone reminding Kyou of one time when he'd been younger and Kazuma scolded him for losing his temper while fighting. -I'll come find you, just find a street sign and tell me where you are.-  
  
"No." Kyou thought back to what had happened just a short while ago. The three strange men, the horrible pain one had put him through. Yuki being thrown around so easily and Tohru...Kyou didn't know what happened to Tohru. It was all a mess and it seemed that it was his fault. He didn't need someone else getting hurt because of him. Certainly not Kazuma. "Don't look for me, master."  
  
"What are you talking about? Of course I'll come for you."  
  
Kyou turned off the cell phone and stuffed it into his pants pocket. He couldn't let his master get messed up this whatever was happening. It was bad enough that Tohru, Yuki, and Shigure had already been hurt because of him. Although Kyou loved fighting, more than almost anything, he did not like hurting people. So when he thought back to how everyone had tried to defend him, even gentle Tohru, Kyou felt sick. He was the fighter, he was his master's prized student. Kazuma was proud of Kyou and his fighting skills. Kyou knew he shouldn't need anyone's help. He was strong enough to take care of himself, yet Tohru had to try to protect him. That was just embarrassing.  
  
'My thoughts keep wandering. I have to find help. What if that guy comes back? I can't go see Hatori, he'll be at the estate and then everyone will get hurt. I have to get away from everyone. They'll get hurt again if I hang around.'   
  
Someone bumped into Kyou and he jumped away, feeling sick at the touch of the human. His stomach lurched painfully and Kyou put a hand to his mouth, fearing that he might throw up again. He wouldn't be able to bear throwing up more blood, especially not in public. As soon as his stomach settled down, Kyou put both hands to his ears, though that did little to drown out the unwanted sounds. He could hear rats creeping around in the side alleys and distant cars. He could hear birds as they flew overhead and the heartbeat of a passing human.  
  
'Crap! Crap! What's happening? This doesn't make any sense!' Kyou stopped walking and looked around at the still unfamiliar city. A few people passed by, completely ignoring him, but Kyou couldn't ignore them. He could smell everything and hear every little whisper. He felt as if they were all to close. Like they were pressing around him. He wanted nothing more than to get away from them all. Kyou's fingers itched for his bracelet. He knew a very sure way to make all these loud, smelly humans go away. 'Wait a minute.' Kyou realized what he was thinking. 'I'm human, too. Aren't I? Why am I thinking of them like they're so different?'  
  
A loud roaring caught Kyou's attention and he turned just in time to see Kureno on his sleek, black motorcycle go speeding into a wide, filthy side street. Kyou didn't know his older cousin well, he only knew that Kureno was very close to Akito and that they were rarely apart. Curiosity, more than anything, made Kyou follow Kureno.  
  
Kazuma-  
  
Kazuma stared at his phone dumbly, still hearing the faint buzzing of the dial tone. 'He hung up again.' Kazuma felt his stomach start to churn with worry. Normally, he was a very calm, composed man, but Kyou always found a way to agitate him. 'He's not just sick. Something's wrong.'  
  
"Sensei? Is something wrong?" One of Kazuma's students asked, keeping a polite distance. When he turned, Kazuma saw that his entire class had stopped their exercises and were now watching him quietly. "You look worried."  
  
"Nothing for you to be concerned about." Kazuma replied as he carefully considered the possibilities. They might have been simply disconnected. Then again, it might have been something far worse. "I'm afraid I'll have to cancel class today." Kazuma turned and gave his class and apologetic bow. "I have a family emergency. Forgive me for this short notice."  
  
"What's wrong with Kyou?" One of Kazuma's students spoke up. They all knew that when Kazuma worried for one of his family, he was mostly likely worried about Kyou. All the students, ten of them in all, were on the large practice mat where they'd been working on sets and forms for the past hour and every one of them was looking at Kazuma with worry. "He's all right, isn't he?" They all knew Kyou, he had become something of an unofficial mascot when he had begun living with Kazuma, nearly ten years ago. Even when the hot tempered boy had started taking lessons with the rest of the class, all the older boys and men had looked at Kyou as something like a younger brother, even if Kyou had never realized it.  
  
"He wasn't feeling well last night, I think I need to check on him." Kazuma tried not to look as anxious as he felt, but it didn't seem that it hid it well as his students hurried him out of the dojo with a promise to clean up and lock the doors before they left. Kazuma rushed through the city, really not knowing where he was going. For all he knew, Kyou could still be at Shigure's house and delirious with fever again. Kyou had sounded so odd. He honestly sounded frightened and Kazuma believed the boy was wandering the city, probably still sick. 'Wait for me, Kyou. I'll be there as soon as I can, son.'  
  
Tet-chan-  
  
Tet-chan froze in the middle of setting the table when he heard his master's voice. -Come to me, Tet-chan.- It wasn't often that Count D would chose to contact Tet-chan like this, with only the power of his mind, and Tet-chan could easily hear the...unhappiness in Count D's tone. That was dangerous. As many liberties as Tet-chan took with Count D's good nature, even he wouldn't chance angering the youngest of the Kami's.  
  
"Master?" Tet-chan looked up, slightly. He knew Count D wasn't at home, he was off on his own business. Yet Count D's beautiful voice sounded as clear inside Tet-chan's mind as if his master was right next to him.  
  
-Come to me, Tet-chan. I have an errand for you.-  
  
"Yes, Count." Tet-chan replied instantly. He started for the door, taking off his apron and throwing it on the floor. "Let me tell Ten-chan to watch Chris."  
  
-That will not be necessary.- Count D's voice sounded very different, more than unhappy. He sounded almost angry. -Chris is your errand. Come to me. Wait!- Count D ordered suddenly, making Tet-chan freeze and wait for instructions. -Go to the green house and bring me a Gattolotto, one of the females.-  
  
"Chris is the errand?" Tet-chan turned, irritated at the distraction that would keep him away from Count D and Chris even a moment longer. 'How can Chris be the errand? He was suppose to be in the petshop, still.' Tet-chan ran through the halls of the petshop, drawing curious stares from the other residents, and burst into the greenhouse. It was too hot to Tet-chan's taste, but he did know where Count D kept his few precious Gattolotto's. The plants were ugly, even to Tet-chan's eyes, but they were very useful. "Do you want me to just tear it out of the ground, Count?"  
  
-No, that will kill her and I need her alive. Dig it up and bring it with some of the soil. There are burlap bags by the door, just put it, with the soil, in one of the bags. It is a strong plant and will survive.-  
  
Tet-chan did as he said, then ran out of the petshop and followed his master's voice with the burlap bag in hand. He took off without another question, bolting down the sidewalk outside the petshop in his true form, that of the Tou-Tetsu instead of an almost human looking boy. His heart starting to beat faster as he thought about Chris having wandered into mischief and what could Count D possibly need the Gattolotto for. 'Did Chris sneak out? Is he hurt?' Tet-chan wanted to curse. He never let Chris out on his own so he hadn't worried when he hadn't seen Chris for a few hours.  
  
-Don't be angry at him.- Count D said, his angry voice turning more sad, now. -This is my fault. I told Chris he could go out alone. Now I'm going to have to ask you to fetch him for me.-  
  
By now, Tet-chan was nearly at with his master, focusing in on Count D's 'voice'. He knew that any human who happened to see him would likely pass him off as nothing more than a figment of their imagination. They wouldn't be able to believe what they'd seen. Humans were so simple minded that they simply refused to acknowledge anything that was slightly out of place. It was useful, especially at times like this when he didn't have time to be cautious.   
  
Tet-chan paused only for a moment outside the hospital Count D's voice had led him to. It would be difficult, at best, to get passed all the humans wandering around the halls of this huge place and he wanted to get to Count D as soon as possible. Therefore, Tet-chan took the easiest and fastest route available. He held the bag with the Gattolotto in his teeth and scaled the wall, climbing up to the topmost room where he knew Count D was waiting for him. It wasn't all that difficult and no one noticed him as humans rarely ever look up.  
  
The Count was waiting, exactly where Tet-chan had expected him to be. "I brought it, Count." Tet-chan dashed to Count D's side and held the bag with the Gattolotto out for Count D. "What's going..." Tet-chan paused and sniffed the air before he even looked at the man in the hospital bed. He recognized that scent. "What happened to your human?"   
  
Count D's human, Leon, looked very bad. Leon's skin was pale as the dead and there were wires and tubes everywhere, sticking in him and taped to his skin. There was a steady -beep- beep- of some kind of machine and a terribly sterile smell in the air.  
  
"He is dying." Count D said, coldly. "I will not allow this." He took the burlap bag from Tet-chan and set it in his lap, opening the bag carefully. "Thank you, Tet-chan. You've done well. I have just one other task for you." Count D stroked the dark green plant, lovingly.  
  
Tet-chan, though he wanted to ask Count D where Chris was, knew better than to hurry the Kami, especially when someone had done something so stupid as to hurt Leon. As much as Tet-chan disliked Count D's favorite pet, even he knew how much the human meant to Count D. "Anything you ask, Count." Tet-chan declared.  
  
"Good. Are you hungry, my dearest Tet-chan?" Count D looked up and met Tet-chan's eyes.  
  
"I'm always hungry, Count." Tet-chan stood before his master, tensed and ready for whatever his master asked him to do. The question made Tet-chan's mouth start to water. He hadn't eaten in quite a long while, not since before they'd come to this new land. "Ask anything of me." Tet-chan hoped this errand involved him eating. The thought of warm, bloody meat in his mouth almost made his stomach hurt.  
  
Count D reached out and took Tet-chan's face in his hands. "My dearest Tet-chan, someone has stolen our child."  
  
"What?" Tet-chan's hunger was replaced by a feeling of dread.  
  
"Our Christopher. He has been taken." Count D looked as close to tears as Tet-chan had ever seen him and he didn't like it. Count D was normally very collected and very composed and to see him so upset was unnerving. Count D stood and went to stand by Leon's bedside, setting the Gattolotto plant on the bed, just beside Leon. He began to carefully take the Gattolotto out of its burlap bag. "My Leon was shot, he treads on the line between life and death and the one who has shot him also took our Chris."  
  
Rage surged through Tet-chan. Not only had this person made Count D sad, but they had Chris. "Where is he, Count?" Tet-chan thought of his little charge in the hands of a killer. This was something he could not allow! "Where is Chris?"  
  
"Here." Count D pressed his fingers into Tet-chan's temples and an image appeared before Tet-chan's eyes. "This is where he is. I dare not leave my Leon for any time, so you will go to this place and retrieve our Chris. Do you see it?"  
  
Images ran through Tet-chan's mind. He saw the street outside the hospital and then down to a corner. It kept going like this, as if Count D were taking Tet-chan's mind on a high-speed journey through the city. On an on it went until very suddenly the journey ended and Tet-chan was left looking at a very large building.  
  
"Yes, Count." Tet-chan studied the image Count D had shown him. A large, dirty looking building. The doors were red, but chipped, and all the windows were boarded up. Before him, could see the roads and streets that would lead him there. The image faded and Tet-chan was in the hospital room looking at his master again. "I'll go at once." But Count D didn't let go of Tet-chan's face and Tet-chan would not move until his master let him go.  
  
"Our Chris still lives, Tet-chan. Bring him back to me. My papa is nearby, but I do not know where he is. He is the one who had Chris kidnapped and it is his fault that my Leon may die. If you see him, do not challenge my papa, Tet-chan. I could not bear to lose you, also."  
  
"I won't die, Count."  
  
"Good. Then bring our Chris home and you may eat all of the humans who have taken him until your hunger is satiated."  
  
"Yes!" Tet-chan was off the moment Count D released his face. His thoughts were filled with concern for his little Chris, but also the thought of finally satisfying his hunger. He would not only enjoy killing for his hunger's sake, but for Chris. How dare anyone lay hands on what belonged to Tet-chan?!  
  
Count D-  
  
Gattolotto was something he didn't like to waste, but he would do almost anything to save Leon from death. Almost...  
  
So D waited until Tet-chan had left, hunting for Chris, before he began to work on Leon. Life was such a fragile thing, like a single strand of spider silk, and Leon's strand was being stretched very thin. Once, not long ago, Gattolotto had been used to save Leon's life. It's beautiful red blossoms fell instead of Leon, saving him from a fatal bullet. Again, it was a bullet that threatened to take Leon's life.  
  
"Gattolotto," D spoke to the plant, spreading the soil over the clean sheets of Leon's bed. "I need you to save this man. Please give of yourself for him." He went to the beeping heart monitor and disconnected it from Leon. The beeping stopped instantly and D began removing the feeding tube and an intravenous tube in Leon's arm and small electronic monitors taped to his arms, chest, and head. He hated, absolutely HATED, seeing Leon's life depending on such a flimsy thing as human technology.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?"  
  
D looked up and saw the dragon, dressed in his white doctor's coat, standing in the doorway of the hospital room. D could practically feel anxiety rolling off the dragon. No doubt he was remembering their last encounter. "I am saving my Leon's life. If you care to watch, you are welcomed." Then D turned his attention away from the dragon and to the dark green Gattolotto. It was already starting to twitch where it's leaves touched Leon's bare arm. "Yes." D sighed. "Please, do your best, Gattolotto."  
  
Apparently, the dragon didn't noticed Gattolotto. "You can't be here. This is a hospital." His voice was tense and D wondered if the fragile dragon would try to become violent.  
  
"I am well aware of that." Now that D was sure that Leon was in the best of care, he looked up at the dragon. It had only been a few short hours ago that he had seen the Zodiac dragon in the petshop, but the dragon looked even worse now than he had before. "I think you should get some rest, Souma-san. You look very tired." If D had to guess, he would think that this man hadn't slept in days.  
  
"That's no concern of yours. This man is in the care of my family and unless you are family to him, then you have no right to be here." The Junikyu dragon said this with a stern voice and D was pleased that the dragon was acting braver. Overcoming fear was a large part of maturing and it was about time this family was allowed to grow-up.  
  
D went to the dragon and smiled. "You really should rest. You do not need to worry about my dear Leon. You see," Count D made a flourishing gesture with his arm, indicating Leon. "He will be well, soon."  
  
"My God!" Souma-san's eyes widened and it was no surprise. He'd probably never seen anything like Gattolotto.  
  
In just the few moments that D had drawn away Souma-san's attention from Leon, Gattolotto had grown remarkably. Instead of the small plant Tet-chan had brought, Gattolotto had grown so huge that the overflowing plant now completely covered Leon and flowed out onto the floor. Already, large red blossoms were growing on Gattolotto's vines. The red blossoms that would fall and this Gattolotto would die, all to save Leon's life. It was such a beautiful sight to D, that he almost missed Souma-san's expression of horror.  
  
"W-what's going on?" Souma-san breathed. "We've got to get him out of there! He'll die in the condition he's in!" He tired to go to Leon, but D stopped Hatori as the dragon tried to rush passed him.  
  
"No need to fear." Count D put a restraining hand on Souma-san's arm held him easily. "I will never allow my Leon to be harmed." The moment he touched Hatori, D began to influence Hatori. It was time for the dragon to sleep.  
  
Souma-san shrugged off D's hand roughly and turned to face him. "Your Leon? What relation are you to him?" He seemed to be trying very hard not to mention or even think about their last encounter when D had made Ten-chan assume the form of Souma-san's lost love. "What is that thing, it wasn't there a moment ago."  
  
"It is a plant, a very special plant. You look tired, Souma-san. Perhaps you should sit."  
  
"Sit?" Hatori's eyes were locked on the plant that continued to grow around Leon, he was so engrossed but the sight, that he didn't seem to notice when D took his arm and gently led him to the visitor's chair. "Sit?! I can't sit now, that thing will suffocate him!" Yet, Hatori's eyes began to droop and his voice didn't have the energy it had when he'd walked it.  
  
By this time the Gattolotto was wound herself so completely around Leon that only the fingers of one hand and his left eye were visible. Gattolotto continued to grow and the red buds of its lifesaving blossoms hung in great clumps, like grapes. It didn't take long before Leon was completely engulfed by the Gattolotto and D felt his heart ease a bit. Perhaps now Leon would have a chance of surviving.  
  
"Yes," D continued to the shocked Hatori. "You really must rest. It is not healthy for you to be so exhausted." D moved away from the dragon long enough to close and lock the door to Leon's room. It just wouldn't do to have any disturbances at this point. "Here, let me light some incense to help you relax."  
  
At the Pits-  
  
Chris-  
  
"Our time with Kureno was most...profitable. He brought many customers to my doors." He was a old man, to Chris' eyes, and terrible looking. The man's hair had once been black, but was now turning very white. His face was deeply lined from age and he wore tiny, little glasses on his long nose. He sat behind his desk and spoke, not to Chris, but to the woman who'd brought Chris to this place. "Our dealings with the Souma family have not always been so pleasant, however. Your young master once took a very valuable commodity from us." The man said this as he puffed on a black, bad smelling cigar.  
  
"Kureno was sold to Akito, it's not like we stole him."  
  
"Yes. How fortunate for your family that I wasn't here at the time to stop that blunder. He was never supposed to be sold." The man gave an ugly laugh. "My sweet, beautiful Kureno. He was the pride of my little collection. Such a heartless child."  
  
"He's grown into a heartless man. You'd be proud. This is all besides the point. Are you interested in the boy or not?" The woman who'd kidnapped Chris jabbed her finger towards him and Chris wanted to bite her. She'd hurt Leon. "I can't waste all day here, I've got things to do."  
  
"Don't be in a hurry, Souma-san. I don't normally buy kidnapped children. This is a big risk for me."  
  
Buy? Chris rubbed his still aching head and wondered what was going on. He'd woken up just a few minutes ago, with a splitting headache, in this room and it looked almost to clean. Everything was white and sterile looking from the shining white tiles on the floor to the overly bright lights. 'I don't want to be bought!' But Chris had no way of telling them that and he doubted that they would even listen if he could. 'I want to go home, I have to find out if Leon's all right.' Yet, Chris sat where he'd been told to by the scary old man and just listened. He had no idea where he was and no idea how to get home.  
  
"Don't get on a high horse, Wei." The woman said, irritably. She crossed her arms over her chest and started to pace in front of the desk the man, Wei, sat at. The desk was large and shiny black, the only part of the room that wasn't white. "I know how you get your children and this is nothing for you to get all moralistic about. You'd get a death sentence if the police had the balls to come and investigate this place! What you run isn't just a child rape factory, you also kill little kids every night."  
  
"That's Wei-san, to you, Ren!" Wei snapped, snubbing out his cigar almost viciously. His temper turned very bad, very suddenly as soon as Ren had started speaking. "Don't presume to know what I do here! I'll have you know not a single one of my children has been kidnapped! Every single child in my tender care was an unwanted child abandoned or sold to me by their own families. Unwanted and unloved. That means that there is no danger of anyone coming to look for these children. I am perfectly safe. Why should I saddle myself with your kidnapped victim? He's obviously a foreigner, so he's not a Souma, and that means he's got family. Where's his family? Who's going to look for him?"  
  
"No one. I killed his only family, his brother. You've got nothing to worry about, there." Ren said carelessly. "Besides, what are you afraid of? I understand you've got quite the defense here, the cops won't be able to even get in before you escape."  
  
'Dead?' Chris' mouth fell open in shock. 'No. She's lying. Big brother's not dead. He's been shot before and he didn't die.' It HAD to be a lie.  
  
Wei's eyes darkened when Ren had spoken. "You seem to know a little more than the average person. What has Kureno been telling you?"  
  
"Nothing." Ren looked suddenly nervous and Chris understood why. Wei looked very dangerous, just then. "He barely even speaks, except to Akito. Why? Does he know something he shouldn't?"  
  
"As I said before, Kureno was not meant to be sold. Very few of my children have ever matched the potential he had, and he was priceless. The only reason I haven't had him killed is that he knew so little about this organization's real purpose. He really doesn't know enough to be dangerous. Besides, no matter how well he hides himself, Kureno is a Souma and the head of your family would be able to make very large waves if one of his family were suddenly to...vanish. If Kureno had been with us for just a few days longer, he would have learned some important facts and I'd have had to send someone to kill him, despite his family connections. Kureno was a bright boy and he was taught, just like all the other children, that it's wiser not to talk to people about what goes on here. I seriously doubt he'll ever talk." Wei picked up the telephone and spoke without dialing. "Send Suki to me." Then he hung up and looked at Chris, appraisingly. "I'll give you five thousand for him."  
  
Ren glared. "Five? That's an insult!"  
  
"Are you looking to get rich or get him out of sight? I think I'm being very reasonable giving you any money at all. I could just call the police and play the good citizen instead of helping you out. After all," He looked again at Chris. "He's not very big, I don't think I'll be able to put him in arena. He'll have to be a toy."  
  
There was a knock at the door and a man called out, "The girl's here, boss."  
  
"Right." Wei looked at Ren again. "Are we agreed about the price?"  
  
Ren huffed. "Yes, all right. It doesn't really make any difference."  
  
"Good. You'll wait here and I'll get the money from my employer." Wei stood up and took Chris by the arm. "Hello, Chris. I hope you'll do well at our little home." He smiled, but Chris didn't like the smile. The man kept talking as if he were a friend. "Suki is going to be your friend, she'll teach you everything you need to know. If you work hard, you'll be happy. I hope you work hard."  
  
"Wait a minute!" Ren demanded. "What do you mean, your employer? I thought you ran the Pits."  
  
Wei smiled. "Even I answer to a superior. I may manage the Pits, but I do not own it." He took Chris into the hallway where there was a girl quietly waiting, her hands folded in front of her. "Suki, this is our newest addition, take him to the dorm and show him the ropes. His name's Chris."  
  
"Yes, sir." Suki didn't look much older than Chris was, maybe twelve or so, but everything about her was grey. Her clothes, her hair, even her skin was an unhealthy looking grey. Chris couldn't see the color of her eyes because her hair was hanging over them, hiding them and half her face, and he wondered if her eyes had any color at all. Maybe they were as grey as the rest of her was. Suki took Chris' hand from Wei and they started walking away.  
  
It occurred to Chris that he should fight her and try to get away, but she was taking him away from those scary people, Ren and Wei. Besides, he had absolutely no idea where he was or how to get home.  
  
"What's your name?" Suki asked. "Chris?"  
  
Chris liked Suki's voice, it was so soft that it made her sound like she was whispering a secret. Yes. Can you hear me? Suki didn't answer, so Chris knew she couldn't hear him. It was just like before, if he wasn't in the petshop, it was like no one could hear him. His voice was gone again. Chris had never missed Tet-chan more than he did in that moment. He wanted to have Tet-chan's hand to hold if he couldn't have Leon's.  
  
As they walked down the dark halls, lit only by flickering fluorescent lights, they passed several adults. They were all armed with handguns strapped to their belts. Chris thought that if he could grab one of the guns, maybe he could scare the grown-ups into letting him go. Then, of course, he heard Leon's warning voice, telling him to keep his hands off guns. He'd have to figure out another way to get out of this.  
  
There were other children in the halls, too. Every one of them was dressed just like Suki, in dull grey trousers and a pullover tunic. They all looked at Chris curiously when he passed with Suki and some of them gave him looks that made Chris want to cringe. Some of these kids seemed very angry and others had eyes that looked dead. Other kids acted like any other kids. They were sitting together and laughing about something and playing a game of what looked like dice.   
  
Suki said, as they came to a large, open doorway, "I guess you don't talk. We get ones like you sometimes." She led him into the room. "This is the dorm. You'll sleep here, wherever you can find a place. For tonight, you can sleep with me."  
  
It was a very large room, as big as a classroom, and had lots of other kids in it. They were all different ages, from very young children who should have been in kindergarten to teenagers. The room was mostly empty, but for long rows of mattresses on the floor where some of the kids sat and talked and others were sleeping soundly. Suki led Chris to one of the empty mattresses and sat down, motioning from him to sit, too. Chris wrinkled his nose at it, but he did sit with her. It smelled terrible and was stained several different colors.  
  
Kids sat in small groups of two or three, talking softly, and some sat alone, lost in their own thoughts. Chris saw a few of the older kids, teenagers, holding each other closely and kissing as they cuddled together. Chris looked away from those ones and refocused on Suki. There were so many questions he wanted to ask her and he wanted to ask for her help. She seemed nice.  
  
"You'll have to fight." Suki told him without warning. "We have to fight in front of an audience. It's either that or we have sex with them. That's what the toys do."  
  
Chris blushed to the tips of his toes at the 'S' word, even though he wasn't really sure what it was. Leon would never tell him what sex was and the Count just told Chris that he didn't need to know yet, he was to young. 'I don't want to do those things.' Chris thought, he started to shake his head, but Suki took his hand again and patted it gently.  
  
"It's all right to be afraid. We're all afraid in the beginning. You'll get used to it, though. There's no choice. If we don't do what we're told, they won't give us food. Sometimes, they do worse. Fighting and sex really doesn't matter. There's nothing else for us. No where else for us to go. At least here, we're warm and dry. If we're careful, we all survive the fights. It's better than the streets." She stood up. "Stay here, I'll be right back." Then she walked away at a lazy pace and Chris was left alone with his thoughts.  
  
Chris scowled. 'I DO have someplace to go! I have to go home and find out if Leon's all right.' A terrible thought sprung into Chris' mind as he thought about what that woman, Ren, had said. 'Leon might be dead. No. Leon wouldn't die. Leon's strong and smart, he wouldn't die from a stupid bullet.' Chris blinked back threatening tears. 'Leon wouldn't cry, either. He'd find a way to get away from this weird place and get home.' Even as he steeled himself, Chris couldn't help but notice that there were no windows in the large room and not one of the children were trying to get away. Didn't they have families? 'What if he is dead?'  
  
Chris shook his head and knew Tet-chan would scold him and hit him on the head for thinking things like that.  
  
"Eat." Suki appeared again and sat down again before she put a plastic bowl of oatmeal between them. Without waiting for Chris to start, Suki turned her head suddenly and locked eyes with a girl who had begun inching her way towards Chris, eyeing the bowl of oatmeal. Suki said nothing, but her face was so cold that the other girl backed away without a word. When she turned back to Chris, Suki dipped her fingers in the bowl of oatmeal and scooped up a glob of it before sticking it in her mouth and sucking it off, licking her fingers until she'd gotten every last drop. "Don't ever waste food." She warned in a low voice. "No one ever gets enough, so they'll try to steal yours. Eat it all."  
  
Chris was somehow comforted by Suki's soft-spoken words and he copied her, scooping out a finger full of oatmeal on one finger and eating it. He even licked his finger, the way she had. It tasted terrible, but Chris ate every bite until the bowl was empty.  
  
After that, the two of them sat in silence with the discarded bowl between them. Chris wanted a hug. More than anything, he wanted someone to put their arms around him and hold him tightly. He wanted to be told that everything was alright. 'I want Leon.' Chris really didn't think Suki would give him a hug, though. She didn't seem the type.  
  
A loud buzzer went off and shocked Chris out of his thoughts. Everyone in the room stood up without a word and began filing out the door. Suki took Chris' hand and pulled him to his feet. "We have to go, now. It's shower day."  
  
Chris wanted to ask where they had to go, but it wouldn't do any good. She still wouldn't be able to hear him. Chris followed where she led him, careful not to let go of her hand for, as they all went into the hallway, it was so crowded that Chris was afraid he'd lose her. The whole group of kids went like a herd of sheep through dark, narrow halls until they all came to a large door at the end of one of the halls. Everyone started taking off their clothes, just dropping the loose shirts and pants, until everyone was completely naked.  
  
Chris blushed to the tips of his toes when he saw his first glimpse of so much exposed flesh that wasn't his. No one else was at all ashamed, though and acted as if it were all perfectly normal so maybe if he just acted like he was calm...  
  
"Take your clothes off."   
  
Chris looked up and found Suki waiting for him to strip and nearly fainted. She was completely naked and little Chris felt his brain short-circuit. She had...curves and round, soft bumps. She wasn't as curvy as the posters Leon had hanging on his apartment walls, but she was much more curvy than any boy Chris had ever seen. It took a second to get over the shock of seeing a girl without her clothes, but when it was over, Chris clamped his eyes shut. He was pretty sure he was to young to see things like that.  
  
"You'll have to get over it. I'll help you." Suki started tugging at his clothes and before Chris knew it, his clothes had been taken off and he was just like everyone else: naked. He was absolutely horrified and felt like everyone was staring at him, though, in truth no one seemed to notice him at all. Though they were all pressed together in the hallway like sardines, no one really looked at anyone else. Chris wrapped his arms around himself, not that it did any good, and stared at his feet with tears of shame burning his eyes. He wanted to run away, but people were pressing him so tightly that he couldn't have move if he wanted to. He couldn't even reach his clothes, now laying on the floor somewhere. This had to be some kind of weird nightmare! This couldn't be real.  
  
"Stay close." Suki put a hand on Chris' shoulder and pulled him to her side. That didn't exactly do a lot to make Chris feel more comfortable. His eyes were right on level with some very...soft bits of her chest. "We have to wash now. It's just a shower." She looked down, giving Chris another glimpse of her grey eyes. They looked very sad. "It'll be all right. No one's going to hurt you...not here."  
  
Chris had never been so embarrassed in his whole life! Not only had Suki made him take off all his clothes, but there were girls all around! He felt like crying and just wanted to sink into a crack in the floor and die. Suki was naked and standing right nest to him AND touching him! It was the first time Chris had ever seen a naked girl and he didn't like the butterflies it was aggravating in his stomach. It was probably cooties.  
  
Another buzz sounded and the door ahead of them opened, swinging inward, and everyone flooded into the room. Once in the room, everyone spread out as much as they could. It wasn't any larger than the room with all the mattresses, but it looked worse. It was filthy. There was grime on the once white tiles and it smelled terrible. The walls were lined with shower heads that looked about thirty years old and there were dozens of small, rusty drains on the floor. Chris could see mold growing unchallenged on the walls and the ceiling. At the far end of the room, on the walls were about a dozen toilets, which explained part of the terrible smell of the room.  
  
Everyone lined up under the shower heads, most people sharing the shower heads two or three each, and just waited. There was a small soap tray on the wall under each shower head with a bar of yellow, half used soap, but only one that had to be shared. Chris felt his skin start to creep, but he followed Suki to a shower head near the back that was empty.  
  
"Just wash up." She told him. She looked as if she was about to say something else when the doors opened again and a line of children walked in. They said nothing and didn't even look at anyone else when they stepped out of line and went to find a shower head to wash under. A boy, older than Suki, with a tattoo on his chest, joined Chris and Suki, though he didn't so much as look at him.  
  
Suki's hand tightened on Chris' shoulder and she pulled him closer to her. "Omi, this is Chris." Suki looked at the tattooed boy from under her grey hair. "Omi, Chris is new. Will you take care of him tonight, after the fights?"  
  
The tattooed boy turned slightly and focused on Chris before he nodded once. "Sure." He was a teenager, really, and Chris thought he must have been about sixteen or so. His hair was cut very short, almost shaven off, and his eyes were...empty. Only then, when Chris looked at Omi's eyes, did Chris remember where he'd seen that tattoo. It was the black scorpion of that boy who'd attacked the petshop and nearly killed the Count. Did that mean that Omi was a killer, too?  
  
The water turned on very suddenly and Chris gasped at the freezing cold water. Everyone else was washing, scrubbing themselves with the yellow soap before passing it onto someone else. Suki washed quickly and handed the soap to Chris and Chris scrubbed himself just to keep warm as Suki wouldn't let him get out from under the freezing water. When Chris was done, Omi took the soap from him and began washing himself.  
  
Suki ran her fingers through Chris' hair, pulling the tangles out as easily as she could. "Omi's nice." Suki said, as if Omi weren't there. "He'll be good to you." Her fingers ran over Chris' head and Chris felt a terrible pain. He flinched away, out of her hands. "You were hit?"  
  
Chris nodded, gingerly touching the sore spot. It felt rough and he guessed that he must have a scab on his head. That was the last thing he remembered, after seeing Leon get shot. The woman hit him. Chris still had no idea what Suki was taking about. How was Omi going to be good to him?  
  
Kureno-  
  
Passionate rage.   
  
That was what filled Kureno's mind as he tore through the city streets on his motorcycle, trying to think of where Ren would have gone. In his entire life, Kureno had never felt such a towering rage as the one that now threatened to overwhelm his good judgment. Akito would have died if it hadn't been for that stranger. Kureno owed Akito everything, the least he could do was murder for him.  
  
'I should have been with him!' Kureno cursed himself as he turned his motorcycle to round another corner. 'I should have been at his side! Ren wouldn't have gotten away if I'd been closer.' With all that he owed to Akito, Kureno knew he had failed his God miserably. His only responsibility in life was to guard Akito and he hadn't even been around when a real threat reared its head.  
  
Kureno was devoted to Akito, mind, body, and soul. Since the day Akito had delivered him from his pointless life at the Pits, Kureno was willing to do absolutely anything to protect Akito. He would protect Akito until the day he died and, to Kureno, it didn't seem like all that much of a sacrifice. Akito did have a temper and he was possessive and jealous, but it was a far cry from what Kureno had come from. At least now he was with family. He no longer had to fight for food, for a place to sleep, or just to be allowed to live. He was respected and an important part of the family. Hatori depended on him to keep an eye on Akito's health when he wasn't around and Shigure needed him to pass on information, if Akito was having a bad day or it looked like someone in the family needed help. Most of all, Kureno liked that Akito needed him.  
  
In all honesty, Kureno believed that he knew Akito better than anyone, even Shigure, whom Akito spoke of very fondly. He knew all of Akito's weaknesses and all of his fears. He knew Akito suffered terrible delusions and that the fear of being alone was so bad that it was nearly crippling. He knew Akito woke up crying in the middle of the night, whimpering for someone...anyone...to hold onto. He needed someone to chase away the nightmares and that person was Kureno. It was a duty he was pleased to do.  
  
No, Kureno was not in love with Akito. He loved Akito very much, that was impossible to deny, but he didn't believe he was in love with Akito. However, he did know he would never leave Akito's side. Akito needed him and Kureno liked feeling needed. As a child, Kureno had gotten used to feeling wanted, for his fighting or his body. He didn't like that. Akito not only wanted Kureno, he needed him.  
  
It was because of all that, Akito's dependence and Kureno's devotion, that Kureno hadn't been there when Akito needed him. He'd been visiting Arisa-san at her work. Kureno steeled his mind against her image. Kureno had never been in love before, but he thought that might have something to do with how he felt when he thought of her. She was young and brash, a fighting spirit with a heart of gold. Actually, he'd only known her for a very short time. He barely knew her, really, but he liked her. Which was why he decided he would stop seeing her. It really wasn't fair to her if he let her think there could ever be anything between them. He would not leave Akito, nor would he bring her into the Souma family. Because of Arisa-san, Kureno hadn't been around when Rin had been injured. He should have been around to stop Akito. Now this disaster... He just couldn't afford to have Arisa-san in his life.  
  
He would go to the Pit.  
  
It was a hard choice, really. Ren's car had vanished even before Kureno had started out on the chase on his motorcycle so he had no idea where to look. She could have gone anywhere. Her apartment was far to obvious, but she wasn't all that intelligent, according to Shigure. She might decide to hide there. 'No.' Kureno thought of what he knew of Ren. Technically she was his aunt, his mother's sister. She knew about the Pit and how he'd been sold to them. It would be a logical place to get rid of a child, but why would she want to get rid of him after taking the trouble to steal him? It made no sense.  
  
Not that Ren's reasoning mattered at all. Kureno didn't care about the child. His duty was to kill Ren and he would if it took him the rest of his life to find her. He would start at the Pit.  
  
Nothing had changed at the Pit. Different children were hanging around outside the building, but that was about the only change. Kureno stopped his motorcycle outside the Pit. Strangely enough, Kureno had no fear about his motorcycle being stolen out here. There was no one in their right mind that would venture into the area of the Pit unless it was to see the fights and the children of the Pit wouldn't have any use for a motorcycle. The motorcycle wasn't of any sentimental importance, anyway. Hatori had bought it for him in case of emergencies so Kureno really didn't care if it were stolen or not.  
  
Looking up at the building he hadn't seen for more than a decade, Kureno saw his childhood from an adult's perspective. He wondered how his parents had thought that they would get away with it, in the long run. They knew how close all the Junikyu were and they knew all about the curse. How could they have thought that they could just sell one of the Junikyu? Akito was possessive of his family and would have demanded, sooner or later, that Kureno stop going to the boarding school everyone thought he was attending and come to live on the estate. How were they going to explain that they'd sold him? Did they really think that the owners of the Pit would just let him go?  
  
Up until the last year he'd been at the Pit, Kureno had been allowed to go back to the estate every year for New Years. When the manager of the Pit realized Kureno's potential, Kureno knew his time of being allowed to return to the estate was coming to an end. He was told that he would be put into a superior training program, he would become one of the Black Scorpion. A week before Akito had bought him Kureno had been marked by the Black Scorpion on his chest, a sign that he would begin more serious training. Probably in killing. Kureno hadn't really cared at the time, he just did what he was told. That would have been the end of Kureno's Junikyu Banquet.  
  
What would Kureno's parents have told Akito when he failed to show up?  
  
Ah well, no time for that. Kureno was reassured by the heavy weight of his gun holstered at his hip. He knew the children were dangerous, even if they were far smaller than he was. He hadn't let his skills go over the years, though. Kureno was more dangerous than these dark eyed children, he had more to protect.  
  
Getting inside was the easy part. The doors were left open for the children who were trusted to come back so they could get in an out when they wanted to. It was what to do once he was inside that Kureno worried about. He needn't have worried. The moment they opened the door Kureno was face to face with Ren. She looked terrible, still bearing the scar Akito had given her the day she'd cause Shigure to leave the estate. Her hair was greying and thinning and her face was starting to show her age. Her shock at seeing Kureno was glaringly obvious.  
  
"Kuren..." Ren turned before she even finished his name and bolted back into the Pit.  
  
Kureno pulled the gun from its holster and walked into the Pit, for the first time in years, looked down the long, dark hallway that still haunted his memory. He could feel eyes watching him from the darkness, but Kureno didn't know if they were they eyes of people he would kill or those of the deadly children who lived here.  
  
'You'll die, Ren. You won't leave this building alive.'  
  
Kyou-  
  
Kyou watched Kureno enter the building and turned. 'I wonder what he's doing here without Akito.' The slight distraction away from what seemed like the end of his own world was welcomed right now. While he watched, Kyou saw someone...something...running after Kureno. It looked like a boy, but it ran faster than anyone Kyou had ever seen. The strange boy tore into the building right after Kureno and vanished into the darkness with him. Kyou started after Kureno, curious.  
  
To be continued...  
  
Next chapter: Kyou willingly takes off his bracelet.  
  
To those of you who have reviewed:  
  
Grrl N: I was hoping to let Hatori heal a bit. I feel such pity for him, and as much as I love tragedy, I feel that he's suffered enough. It's time for our dragon to move on. I was afraid that I was moving the story to slowly, but there's so much to say. I want to give every character their say. I'm glad you were surprised by what Leon did, but it seemed like the kind of thing he'd do. Really, Leon is a very self-sacrificing man. As for what Tet-chan's going to do, that'll be in the next chapter.  
  
Merei-chan: Don't worry about rambling, I don't mind at all :) I'll take care of Tohru, don't worry. As for Ren and Papa D, they'll be taken care of, too.  
  
Hypersarcasticinternetaddict: I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'm glad you liked the others. Keep reading if you like it, because we're getting close to the end...sadly.  
  
Aori Tsuki: Actually, Ayame isn't affected because Count D doesn't wish him to be. I've noticed, in the Pethop of Horrors manga, that, at time, humans can -see- something different about D. I believe that D can control who can see that he's not exactly human. Hatori, with his power of the mind, has greater psychic ability than the rest of his family and noticed something right away. D believes every animal, no matter what it is, is very important and special. Right now, though, he knows Hatori has seen he's something different, so he tries to start with Hatori. D wants to help the Soumas and part of that would be helping Hatori to get over his guilt of what happened to Kana. Thanks for taking the time to review, I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.  
  
Ruby Love: Congrats on getting the last episode of Fruits Basket! I honestly didn't expect Ayame to have such a deep voice, I'll admit. I like it, though. Actually, the anime skipped Kureno and Rin :( I REALLY wanted to see Kureno. I adore Leon. He's so wonderfully clueless about everything that goes on right under his nose, yet he always knows exactly what to say to D. He's the only living creature that has managed to earn D's love and he has no idea he's even done it. I put Leon in because I think he and Ayame could have ended up very much alike. I figure they'd have either loved or hated each other. Leon's also an outside perspective on the Souma family. He can see how silly some of their customs seem to be, yet he's like Tohru, in a way. He wants to take care of the people he cares about so he tries to take care of the Soumas he likes; Ritsu, Ayame, and now Akito whome he saw as a helpless kid. Yes, I like to pair the Souma's off with each other. I honestly think incest doesn't mean much to them. After all, Kana was a Souma, too. About the pairings, though, I won't reveal who ends up with who. I will admit that I love AyameXHatori, I think they'd lovely together, though I like to add Shigure into that little relationship, too. As for Yuki, Kyou, and Tohru...I have my own plans for them. You'll make me blush with all those compliments! The Petshop DVD isn't as good as the manga, but it does give you a great glimpse into the series. It's got wonderful atmosphere. Reviews like yours make me question whether I can keep up the quality of past chapters, but I'll do my best.  
  
Random Informant: Yep, I saw that in the manga, too. I like both versions, to be honest. In the manga, when Tohru goes out alone, without help from Uo or Hana, it shows her great strength and courage. She faced Kyou in his original form on her own. All by herself. She didn't need anyone's help. However, I also liked seeing Yuki go after Kyou. That shows how much Yuki's changed and grown over the course of the series. He no longer sees Kyou as just a nuisance, but as a part of his family and as someone he needs to help take care of. I think that showed a great deal of maturity, considering Yuki and Kyou's relationship just a few months earlier.  
  
Kireina: I'm very glad you liked the song for Hatori. I don't normally like song fics, but every now and again I find a song that just fits a character or situation so perfectly it has to be used. If I knew how to make anime music video's, I'd use that song and do a video about Hatori losing Kana and how much it wounded him. Ah, well. I guess I'll stick to writing. Don't worry, things aren't getting bad, just interesting.  
  
Yuan 18: That dream sequence was VERY hard to do, for some reason. I think I rewrote that silly thing a dozen times before it came out right. Hiro is a difficult character for me to write and I don't think I did him justice. Maybe he'll get more of a role in the next chapter. I was really unsure about having Leon confess so much to Yuki, but I think Yuki needs someone who understands his situation, but isn't to close. Why hasn't Leon applied 'opposites attract' to D? Heh, that's easy. Leon is the king of denial. That man can 'hear' Chris even when he sees that Chris' lips don't move and no one else can hear him. He can understand Q-chan's speech and can talk to Pon-chan, yet he sees nothing at all magical about the petshop. Kazuma will be coming back. I've always liked him. Such a good man. Poor Kyou...I guess D did kinda leave him in the lurch, didn't he? Well, to D, nothing is more important than Leon, or so I've noticed.  
  
Cor-chan: Thanks for the encouragement! I haven't really thought about what will happen when Hatori meets lil' Chris. Hmmm...I'll have to give that some thought. Actually, I think Hon Ron wants to adopt Hatori and take care of him. I can't recommend Petshop of Horrors enough, but trust me, my translation of the characters is NOTHING compared to the original. I'm sure you'll enjoy them. I'll do my best to keep up the quality and make the best story possible. It's exhausting though, I'm always afraid it's not good enough.  
  
Caiti: Wow, that's a long review. Thanks! I hope you're feeling better. You aren't sick, are you? If you like Ritsu so much, I think I'll give him a part in the next chapter. I think Ritsu is the prettiest boy in Fruit Basket, personally, and the fact that he's constantly in a suicidal state just adds pity for him. Made to feel completely worthless, even if it was unintentional, Ritsu needs serious therapy. Then again, so do all the Soumas. I like cliffhangers! Kyou's chapter is coming soon and everyone will get to see why the Cat is so important and why Papa D wants the Cat.  
  
Ran Mouri: Ha! Ha! No, I don't think it sounds mean, really. I understand that Hatori doesn't know how to deal with his grief and guilt about losing Kana. He believes that locking his love away is the right thing to do. However, I have to agree that it's time he moves on and find someone else to focus all that love on.  
  
Arin Ross: Yes, all our beloved characters are starting to mature a bit. Growing up is hard to do, especially in the Souma family. That was Shigure's whole plan, his very simple plan. He wanted to make his family able to deal with life without getting mired down in their pasts of depression and anger. I think its starting to work. Leon's reaction to Akito is something I expect that he would do. He doesn't know who Akito is, he only sees a crying, frightened child. Even if that child is a bit spoiled and demanding, he's not just going to walk away and leave the kid alone. As for Akito's sanity, I wonder how long that'll last.  
  
Ladysess: Very glad you like the story. I hope you like it enough to keep reading the rest of it. Thanks for taking the time to review.  
  
Demeter1: I love Akito, too. He's such a fascinating character to write, too. I love delving into his psyche. I'm very flattered that you think I've done such a good job with Akito's reflection, I rather like how he's turned out, too. I've had a couple of people tell me how fond they are of Ritsu and I'm pleasantly surprised. I thought I was the only one who liked him. I guess I'll have to give him another part in this story. Thanks for the CC, I'll correct that as soon as possible.  
  
Melchoir: I'm pleased that you liked this chapter. Don't worry about how short the first meeting between Shigure and D was, they will meet again.  
  
Ayako: Thanks for the review. Yes, there was a lot in the last chapter, but it'll all come together in the end.  
  
Jaelle: Tohru Return Squad...I like it! That's great. Actually, I have other plans for Tohru, but I like your idea. Yes, Leon is a darling, isn't he?  
  
Zeynel: I sure will keep writing. Thanks for taking the time to review, I appreciate it.  
  
Rosa Gigantea: You'll swell my head with that kind of praise, but thank you! I thought this fic might be to long and that people would get bored with the long chapters, but I no one seems to mind. Thanks for reviewing, I'm very thankful for your compliments.  
  
Nissi Nirvani: Ah...How Long Love...how I miss my Petshop crossover with Star Trek. Yes, I promise I'll finish that one. Actually, I have a couple of unfinished works, but I swear, I never post anything I don't intend to finish. This story just kind of took over my life for right now. There are only a few more chapters left, though, and then I'll start finishing my other works. Would you like me to email you when I start doing How Long Love?  
  
PhantomErik: Are you a Phantom of the Opera fan? I LOVE that story! Shigure's my favorite character, too. He's my favorite in all of anime. I'm pleased you liked the story so much and I will keep writing, I promise.  
  
Dark Carmen: Thanks for reviewing. It was actually pretty hard to find the reason for the curse, but I like it now that I have it. I can't wait to read the manga and find out the real reason behind the curse. There must be a reason.  
  
Kim C. : I hope this chapter answers some of your questions and I'm glad you liked what you've read so far. Kyou's transformation isn't done yet.  
  
Delphine Pryde: (Smiles) I like complicated stories. I hope this means that you're enjoying it.  
  
Mercedes No Inuarai: Actually, my Kureno is almost entirely from my imagination. I know almost nothing about him, except that he and Uo-chan like each other, so I had to make it all up. He may no be canon, but I like my Kureno, scary or not. I believe you're right about Momiji's strength, he's definitely underappreciated. That reminds me, I haven't had Momiji in the story for a while. I should put him back in. If you like the Petshop anime, then let me tell you that the manga is much, much better. I love the manga! Hatori and Kana's relationship is always fun to deal with. I'll admit I'm a little, tiny bit of a sadist and I enjoy putting the characters through pain. Every character has something traumatic in their past, but the brilliant thing about this is that Hatori willingly brought his own trauma upon himself. For the sake of the greatest love he'd ever known, Hatori was willing to cause himself so much pain. Sadly, I know very little about Rin, too. The only rumors I've heard are that she doesn't like Yuki or Tohru and that she used to date Haru. Yumm...I love chocolate. Thanks.  
  
Twinfin666: That's quite the review! I'm glad you enjoyed it, that makes the long hours I spend writing this completely worth it. I hope you like this next chapter. There's not so much action, I know, but now it's time to find out where everyone is.  
  
Feely: Thanks for reviewing, I'm glad you like the story. Thanks for the CC, I'll fix Akito's age as soon as I can. I hadn't realized I'd made that mistake, thanks for noticing.  
  
Till next time, readers 


	20. Kyou's Monster

Evil Little god of Writing: Hello, readers. Cousin D isn't feeling well these passed few days, so I'm doing this chapter. Hee, hee. Poor Kyou. He's mine. All mine.  
  
Slight warning for violence  
  
Chapter 20: Kyou's Monster  
  
Leon-  
  
Leon drifted in a warm sleep. Like pleasantly warm water, it surrounded Leon as he once remembered his mother's arms doing. He could hear the soft voice of someone he knew, but couldn't recognize. Maybe it was D. D was always nearby when Leon needed him and that was a great comfort. Leon smiled lazily at the soft, murmur, and was glad that D was nearby.  
  
One of these days, Leon was going to tell D how much he appreciated having him around. One day. In fact, Leon could almost see D's face floating in front of him. D was smiling, as he always did and looking at Leon with those warm, mismatched eyes of his. Leon actually liked D's eyes. He'd never known anyone who had eyes like D's, two different colors and unusual colors, too. One was so dark that it was almost purple and the other, the eye half-hidden behind his dark hair. Leon had the unpleasant feeling that D could understand everything he felt just by looking at him with those warm eyes and Leon hadn't felt so thoroughly understood by anyone since his mom had died. It was as much a comfort as it was a worry; Leon wasn't sure he wanted anyone to understand him that well. Still, D didn't seem bothered by whatever he saw when he looked at Leon with his mysterious eyes.  
  
'D? What's going on?' Leon's voice didn't sound right. Leon was pretty sure he'd been shot, but nothing hurt. Quite to the contrary, he felt relaxed.  
  
Instead of answering, D reached out and touched Leon's face, stroking his cheeks and forehead with his cool fingers.  
  
'What are you doing? Is something wrong?'  
  
Still, D didn't answer. Around D Leon could see some kind of viney plant growing at a ferocious rate, twisting and winding impossibly until it began to block everything. Leon wasn't afraid, though, not even when D reached out to one of the vines and touched one of the small, rapidly growing buds. When D's long nailed fingers touched the bud, it opened into a full, bright red flower that looked hauntingly familiar. They were so fragrant flowers and Leon had seen them before, but he couldn't quite remember where. More and more of the bright red flowers began to open all around Leon and his mind grew pleasantly fuzzy with the scent. D faded away and the flowers clouded Leon's vision.   
  
'Gattolotto? Is that you?'  
  
At the Hosptial-  
  
Rin-  
  
"What?!" Hatsuharu threatened to become black Haru in an instant, but he managed to restrain himself. Rin didn't flinch from him, not even when he stood up so quickly that the chair he'd been sitting in fell backwards with a crash. She met Hatsuharu's enraged eyes evenly and waited to see if he would be stupid enough to attack her. She doubted it; Hatsuharu would never deliberately hurt her. Rin didn't think Hatsuharu was stupid, far from it. Right now, however, he wasn't in the clearest state of mind.  
  
"You heard me." Rin told him coldly. She'd been in the hospital for only a few hours and already wanted to leave. She felt like she was wasting time, though there was something important she had to before she left. "I don't want to see you anymore. It's too dangerous. Akito's not going to let us be together." Rin was sitting up in her hospital bed, propped up by several pillows with her hand folded on her lap. The Souma room at the hospital was nothing if not comfortable, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Akito had arranged it and Rin planned to leave as soon as she got rid of Hatsuharu.  
  
Hatsuharu looked like he would explode. His hands clenched at his sides and his eyes widened, showing far too much white. It was strange to see Hatsuharu like this when he wasn't getting ready for a fight, Hatsuharu was normally a very calm boy when he was with Rin. She was used to seeing his easy-going, almost lazy nature. Rin wasn't afraid of Hatusharu's darker nature. She was afraid of very little.  
  
"Shit!" Hatsuharu cursed and looked as if he wanted to hurt someone, but he couldn't decide whom. Considering that he was alone in the hospital room with Rin, he had very little choice. "Rin...why? Damn it, I'll get you away from Akito, I swear..."  
  
"What?" Rin raised an eyebrow at Hatsuharu. "You'll steal me away? Oh, that's a very clever idea. What do you plan to do when New Years rolls around? What about the Banquet?" She snorted indelicately and hardened her eyes into a glare and her hands tightened around the crisp white bed linens. "You're a fool, Hatsuharu. We can't get away, you know that. As long as I'm with you, I'm in danger. Akito hates it when his family has relationships, even with each other. He obviously disapproves of us, so there won't be anymore 'us'. You think you're that important to me that I'll risk my life just to be around you?"  
  
"We can hide 'us' from Akito." Hatsuharu persisted. "He never notices anything if it's not right in front of him, you know that. He didn't even know Hatori and Kana were together until Hatori threw it right in his face. We'll just stay away from him."  
  
"You're so naive." Rin said, scathingly. "He caught sight of us one, just one time, and he tried to kill me."  
  
"I'll protect you." Hatsuharu insisted, love shining from his eyes as bright as sunlight. Every gesture he made spoke of his love for Rin.  
  
"You didn't do a very good job." Rin said evenly.  
  
Her reply brought Hatsuharu up short and obviously hurt him. He stepped back, away from the hospital bed and Rin, with a look of disbelieve in his eyes. He didn't say another word before he turned and nearly ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him.  
  
Rin slumped down the moment he'd left, relieved that she'd finally gotten it over with. It was harder to do than she'd thought it would be and, looking at Hatsuharu's hurt eyes, she almost hadn't been able to do it.  
  
'It's for his own good.' Rin reassured herself. It didn't matter if Hatsuharu hated her or not, so long as he was safe. 'I know what would happen, if he stayed near me.' Rin wasn't so worried for herself as she was for Hatsuharu. She was strong, but Hatsuharu was...fragile. He was very sensitive and if Akito took out his anger against Hatsuharu instead of Rin, it would hurt him terribly. The best thing to do was to keep Akito certain that Rin and Hatsuharu had broken up. Hatsuharu would be safer this way Rin would be able to work.  
  
Rin knew Shigure knew something. Every ounce of her instinct screamed at Rin that Shigure was holding a big, possibly dangerous secret. She believed, had no proof but believed, that it was a secret involving the curse. If she could get the secret from Shigure, maybe it could be used to end the curse. With the curse ended, then Hatsuharu would be safe.  
  
Rin took a deep breath before she began disentangling herself from the monitoring wires that attached her to the hospital equipment. It was time to go. Her back still ached from the fall, but Rin wasn't about to let that stop her. Laying around in bed wasn't going to do any good at all.  
  
When she was fully dressed Rin left the hospital room, intending to head to Shigure's house. She wanted another look at that book he didn't want her to look at. She didn't get far. In fact, she didn't get passed the room right next to hers where Ayame was fiddling with the doorknob.  
  
"Come on, what's going on? This is just ridiculous. Who would lock it?"  
  
"Are you talking to yourself or the door?" Rin asked sharply. She hadn't expected to see Ayame here, but it was reasonable to assume that he was visiting Hatori.   
  
"Oh, Rin-chan." Ayame smiled and brushed a hand through his hair, looking surprised to see her. "What are you doing up? 'Tori said you should be resting."  
  
"Don't call me Rin-chan and I decide what I do." Rin replied sharply. "You didn't answer my question. Why are you arguing with a door?"  
  
"Because it won't open." Ayame stood up straight and glared at the door with his hands on his hips and looking indignant. "It's locked and I don't know why. It shouldn't be locked, 'Tori just went in there a few minutes ago." Ayame was a very flamboyant character, one of the most visible members of the Souma family. While most cursed Souma's tried to seem as normal and average as possible (usually failing miserably) Ayame gloried in being seen. He loved the spotlight and acted as if he had the lead part in a very bad play. In short, he irritated the blazes out of Rin.  
  
"Who's in there?" Rin put a hand on her still sore lower back. It was starting to throb again and she knew she'd have to get out of the hospital before Hatori caught her. He'd order her back to bed and Rin wasn't sure she could argue her way out of it; Hatori was quite implacable when it came to the health of the Souma family.  
  
"A friend of mine." Ayame looked suddenly sad and Rin wondered if it was Mine-chan in the locked room. As far as Rin knew, Ayame had no close friends besides Mine-chan. "Oh, this is awful." Ayame moaned before he attacked the door again, pulling on it as hard as he could.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
Rin had never seen the foreign woman who'd spoken, but she'd seen Mine-chan many times. It was hard to mistake Mine-chan, she usually dressed almost as eccentrically as Ayame. Today Mine-chan was dressed in a nurse's outfit, including the little white hat, with white stockings and stiletto heeled pumps that were definitely not apart of a nurse's regular uniform. Her normally curly hair was smoothed down and tied into a series of long braids. Mine-chan was a bubbly, bright young woman and she was a great support for Ayame outside the family.   
  
The foreign woman looked a bit older than Mine-chan as well as having a more stern, serious face. She had curly brown hair, much like Mine-chan, but was taller and narrow. There was something about her stance that showed she was a woman who meant business, a seriousness that Mine-chan lacked. She dressed very casually, in denim jeans and a green t-shirt and worn sneakers. She looked like any woman one might see walking down the street, a stark contrast to Mine-chan's wild appearances. Yet they stood together, looking completely at ease, with Mine-chan holding onto the foreign woman's arm.  
  
"Good evening, Jill-san, Mine-chan." Ayame gave them a strained smile. "Thank you for coming, I'm sure it'll mean a lot to Leon. Jill-san, you look tried, I'm sorry if I worried you when I called."  
  
"Of course I came and of course I worried! Leon's practically my little brother." Jill answered in a strained voice. "Where is he?"  
  
"He's inside." Ayame answered, gesturing to the door that continued to confound him. "I just can't get the door to open!"  
  
Rin wondered why Ayame, normally prone to overreacting in the smallest situations, didn't think to go to a nurse's station and get someone to unlock the door. Then again, that would be a sensible idea, so perhaps it was only natural that Ayame didn't think of it. Rin wasn't sure she cared enough to go to the effort, after all, she had things to do. She'd sent Hatsuharu off so coldly and it wasn't going to be for nothing. With him avoiding her, as he no doubt would, Rin would be able to find out whatever secret Shigure was keeping. It could be the answer to breaking the curse and then, maybe, she could apologize to Hatsuharu and they could be together.  
  
"Oh, let me see it." Jill said impatiently, brushing passed Ayame and looking down at the keyhole of the door. She examined it for only a minute before she snorted and pulled a wallet out of her back pocket. The wallet opened to show several pockets and she pulled three narrow wires out of one of the pockets. "This shouldn't be difficult."  
  
"What are you doing?" Mine-chan asked, curiously when Jill stuffed her wallet back into her pants pocket.  
  
"Lock picking really isn't all that hard, once you know the basics and hospitals don't use the most modern of locks." Jill replied as she began sticking the picks into the lock and fiddling them around.  
  
Rin rolled her eyes. 'Why doesn't anyone just go get a spare key from the nurse's station?' But she didn't make any attempt at the obvious solution to this problem, either. She didn't know Ayame's friend, so why should she care?  
  
The door's lock opened with a soft 'click' and Jill stood up straight with a satisfied smile. "There." She announced, putting her lock picks in her pocket. "It only takes a little effort."  
  
Mine-chan looked very impressed and put a hand on Jill's arm. "That was wonderful!" She cooed happily. "Did they teach you that at police academy?"  
  
"Nope." Jill blushed a little. "Two years in juvenile detention will teach you a lot of things."  
  
"Juvenile detention?" Mine-chan's eyes opened quite wide.  
  
"I'll explain later. Now, let's go see Leon...what the...?" When Jill opened the door, she had to back away when a cloud of overly sweet smoke flooded out of the room. It was such a powerful scent, that everyone put a hand to their face and waited a moment for the smell to dissipate before they entered the room. "Cripes, open a window. The Count was definitely here. He's always burning this stuff and he probably thought Leon might like it." Jill said, sounding unconcerned as she went to the apparent source of the faint smoke and the overwhelming smell, a small, round incense burner that had been placed in the center of the floor. Jill blew out the small flame that burned and set the incense burner on the windowsill. She looked at the iron burner and gave a chuckle. "Leon would have yelled at him for the effort if he knew what the Count was trying to do. He's such a blockhead sometimes."  
  
Rin didn't care about the patient, Leon, or this Count person. Her eyes went immediately to Hatori, sound asleep in an armchair. He looked strangely serene; his legs slightly stretched out and his head leaned to the side, resting on his shoulder. Rin had never seen Hatori look so peaceful. Hatori was never violent, he never even raised his voice, but there had always been a depressing feeling of despair around him.  
  
"He hasn't been sleeping well, lately." Ayame muttered half to himself as he covered Hatori with a spare blanket.  
  
Jill went to the side of the man in the bed, Leon, and looked down at him. "This is all my fault." She shook her head and closed her eyes. "I came all this way and I couldn't even help him. Jeeze, I knew it. Let him out of my sight for one minute and he goes and gets himself shot again." She bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes. "Damn it. Why can't he keep himself out of trouble?" When Jill did open her eyes, they were flinty and filled with fire. "If he dies, I'll never forgive him." Her voice drifted away when Mine-chan touched her back gently and the two seemed to share some unspoken communication.  
  
Rin couldn't help but wonder what Leon's connection to the Souma family could be. Hatori wouldn't take a patient outside the family without Akito's permission, so Leon must be somehow important enough to be valued by Akito. He was a blonde man and not much older than Rin, maybe a few years, but besides that Rin couldn't see anything wrong with the man. He looked as if he were just asleep.  
  
'What an ugly plant.' Rin thought when she saw the dark green plant that had been sitting on the side of the man's bed. Some idiot had gone and put the plant on Leon's bed, no pot, just dirt falling over the otherwise clean sheets. It was amazing that Hatori hadn't seen it, if he had he surely wouldn't have let it just sit there. Jill saw the ugly, dying plant as soon as Rin had and scooped up the dry, dusty dirt and the dried out leaves of the obviously dead plant and dumped it on the side table. There were also fallen red flowers that were all over the body of the foreigner and Rin carefully picked them each up and disposed of them with the dirt and the rest of the plant.  
  
Ayame-  
  
It was obviously all Ayame's fault. 'I never should have invited him here. It was selfish, I'm always selfish! Why can't I just think of other people for once!? If I hadn't wanted to see him, he wouldn't have been shot. Leon didn't even want to come in the first place, I had to practically beg him.'  
  
Ayame had done what he could, when he called his house and told Jill what had happened, but there was little else Ayame could do and he felt guilty about that. He should at least tell Leon's boyfriend what had happened, but he had no way of contacting Count D. No phone number or address and even Jill didn't know where Count D was staying. He remembered Leon mentioning that his little brother was living with Count D and felt even worse. What if Leon died and his brother was suddenly without a family?  
  
Jill frowned and reached over Leon's body, picking up a wire that even Ayame knew should have been attached to Leon's chest, a heart monitor. "None of this equipment's being used? What's going on?"  
  
"I don't know." Ayame went to have a closer look. "It was all attached when I left the room, before 'Tori fell asleep." That was only minutes ago and nothing should have changed. The only person in the room had been Hatori and, according to Jill, Count D and neither of them wouldn't have done anything to hurt Leon.  
  
"Umm...boss?"  
  
"Yes, Mine-chan?" Ayame looked at her and saw that she was missing her normal smile. Instead, she looked a bit nervous.  
  
"You got a call just before we came here. One of your cousins, Ritsu, was looking for you. She sounded very upset and said that there was something wrong with Akito. She seems to think he's dying."  
  
At that moment of heart stopping terror, Hatori woke up with a soft yawn. "Where is he?"  
  
"He who?" Ayame asked, more than a little distracted by the news that he and all his loved ones might die any time. At least, that was the theory. The Souma family had never gone without a head for very long and every time it was forced to go for a short time without a head the family had suffered. It had been awful. Sudden sickness and rashes of suicide ran through the family, sometimes whittling it down to nearly extinct. Somehow, a head was always born and it was obvious who the newborn child would be. The child was always born small and sickly, born the usual two months premature, and always with dark grey eyes. It was the eyes that gave away the child's destiny. No one had such eyes as the head of the Souma family.  
  
Hatori looked around, looking confused, before he shook his head. "No one. I...I guess I was just dreaming. I thought I could stay awake longer than that." He stood slowly and looked at Rin sharply. "I didn't tell you to get out of bed."  
  
Rin opened her mouth, no doubt to retort, but Jill interrupted her. "Did you take these things off Leon?" She held up one of the disconnected wires to show Hatori, who looked mystified.  
  
"Good afternoon, Jill-san. No, I didn't." He went to check Leon, looking him over carefully, though he didn't reattach the wires immediately. Leon had been shot in the back so he'd been put on his stomach to rest with his head turned slightly to the side. Hatori looked at Leon's face, pulling back Leon's eyelids to look at his eyes. "This is...very odd."  
  
"What's odd?" Ayame and Jill both asked at the same time.  
  
Hatori didn't answer. He put his fingers on the side of Leon's neck, feeling for the pulse and what he felt must have surprised him. He quickly pulled down the blankets on Leon and looked at the white, gauze bandages covering the bullet wound. The bandages were slightly pink, showing that blood was starting to leak through. He pulled a pair of tiny scissors from the pocket of his white doctor's coat and began cutting the bandages. When he was able to peel back the bandages, Hatori's scowl only deepened. "It's only been a few hours. This isn't possible."  
  
Ayame stepped closer and looked over Hatori's shoulder. Leon's back was completely healed. Where there had been a terrible hole in Leon's back, there was nothing but a faded pink spot. "'Tori? What happened to him?" Even Ayame was certain that this wasn't normal.  
  
"If I didn't know better, I'd say this man was never shot." Hatori shook his head and pulled the bandages off Leon before he replaced the blankets, pulling them securely over Leon's naked back. "There's nothing I can do for him. He's better, but I don't know how. I'll have to run more tests, but, from what I see here, he's just sleeping."  
  
"We should go to the estate." Ayame said. He didn't want to think about a new worry, though he was immensely relieved that Leon was going to live. Hatori was the smartest person Ayame knew and it made Ayame nervous to think that Hatori couldn't explain something. "Ritsu called and he said Akito isn't doing well."  
  
Hatori was alert at once, straightening his jacket and turning to Jill and Mine-chan. "Will you stay and keep an eye on him? If you need anything, press that button," He indicated the nurse's call button. "Or go to the nurse's station down the hall to the left. They'll take care of everything for you." Hatori then left, not waiting to see if Ayame or Rin would follow him, though they did.  
  
At the estate-  
  
Ritsu-  
  
"S-shall we go inside?" Ritsu asked, trying not to let his voice shake as he held onto Akito. He wasn't at all used to being so close to Akito and it was making him very nervous. Akito was much smaller than Ritsu had imagined, even smaller than Ritsu himself.  
  
"Yes." Akito said, his breath heavy. He had his arms around Ritsu and leaned so much against Ritsu that Ritsu nearly had to carry him inside.   
  
Ritsu wanted to have someone else around, anyone else who could deal with crisis better than he could. If he wasn't totally supporting Akito's weight, Ritsu knew he'd be pulling at his hair and screaming. One couldn't scream right in Akito's ear, though. So Ritsu bit the inside of his cheek and struggled to bring Akito inside. It was a long walk and Ritsu had time to get nervous. Akito shouldn't have to depend on him.  
  
When they'd gone nearly have the distance to Akito's house in silence, Akito finally spoke in a near whisper. "It all looks clear."  
  
"Akito?" Ritsu looked at Akito out of the corner of his eyes, but didn't stop walking as he dragged Akito as well as he could. Akito didn't answer Ritsu, but his eyes looked as if they were focused on something far away.  
  
"Everything seems clear. Oh..." Akito nearly sobbed. "What have I done?" One of Akito's spider-like hands clutched tighter at Ritsu's kimono. Ritsu had to strain to hold up Akito. "I can't feel my legs." Akito raised one hand up and stared at it as if it were something that didn't really belong to him. "My fingers...they're numb. It's coming for me." Ritsu struggled with Akito, desperate to get him inside where he could get Akito into his safe bed, but it was hard. Akito wasn't making it any easier as he couldn't move his feet, but Ritsu didn't have any choice. There was no one to help and he HAD to take responsibility. Everyone else was gone and Akito was notorious for not letting anyone but his Junikyu touch him. Ritsu held onto Akito's arm that was slung over his shoulder and had his other arm around Akito's waist, not letting him slip. Not for the first time, Ritsu wished he were bigger.  
  
They made the rest of the way through the estate in silence, though Ritsu was very conscious of the stares from nearly everyone on the estate. Rumors traveled remarkably quickly on the Souma estate and it seemed that everyone had already heard of the attack at the front gates. No one approached them, though, and Ritsu was glad. He couldn't deal with the stress of talking to anyone; it was taking all his strength not to burst into tears right on the spot and had the terrible feeling that this was all his fault, somehow. He wasn't sure how, but it must be.  
  
It took nearly an hour to get to Akito's house and, just when Ritsu realized he would have to find a way to open the front door without dropping Akito, he was saved. Hiro and Kisa appeared, both looking as worried and frightened as Ritsu felt, and Kisa slid open the door for them.  
  
"No," Akito protested when Ritsu headed them for Akito's bedroom. "Not there. Take me to my garden. I want to see my birds."  
  
Ritsu had no choice, even though he was pretty sure Hatori would want Akito to be in bed if he couldn't walk or feel his fingers. This didn't sound at all good. Ritsu clumsily helped Akito to sit on the edge of the back porch. "I-I'm going to call Hatori." Ritsu said, desperate to get out of Akito's presence before he did something stupid to upset Akito.  
  
"No." Akito said. "Hatori's taking care of that man, Leon. He saved me, so he deserves to best of care and that means Hatori. I'm just tired, that's all."  
  
"But...your legs..."  
  
"I said I'm just tired! Listen to me, just once I want someone to listen!" Akito snarled, suddenly angry.  
  
"Yes, yes. I'm sorry." Ritsu struggled not to go hysterical. "I'm so sorry, I just thought, I mean...It's nothing." This was why he didn't live at the estate, it was too hard to apologize to Akito.  
  
Akito just looked sulky and put his hands on his lap, though he moved them slowly and Ritsu wondered exactly how much of Akito's hands were numb. "Stop staring at me." Akito grumbled, looking over his shoulder, not only at Ritsu, but at Kisa and Hiro, also. "Why are you staring at me? Why don't you sit down?"  
  
Ritsu didn't dare open his mouth for fear of saying something unforgivably stupid. Instead he began to sit, when Akito spoke again.  
  
"Not back there. Come sit next to me. All of you."  
  
It was the most uncomfortable few moments of Ritsu's life; just sitting in silence with Akito. The birds, Akito's beloved birds, were in bright spirits for some reason. They were singing madly and flying from tree to tree as if they couldn't stand the excitement. Akito was entranced by the exhibition and marveled, "Aren't they beautiful? Shigure gave them to me, when I was very young. That one bird he gave me had babies and they had babies and it kept going on. I loved him then. That moment he gave me the little wren, I knew he was the best. He's smart and very kind. I love him best. He shouldn't have left. I wish Shigure would come home."  
  
Ritsu didn't know what to say about that. It was well known that Shigure was Akito's confidant and if something needed to be done in the family, Shigure was usually the one who 'dealt' with Akito, persuading and manipulating Akito to make sure what needed to be done was done. All at once, though, Ritsu got the feeling that perhaps their relationship went further than anyone guessed. The way Akito spoke of Shigure, it sounded very much like love. Akito loved all his Junikyu, but this sounded like...well, like more.  
  
"I going to die." Akito said suddenly, in a very small voice. "Today, I think. I want to see everyone before I die. Where is everyone?" He looked at Ritsu and then turned to look at Hiro and Kisa, who sat just as awkwardly as Ritsu on the other side of Akito. "Where's my family?"  
  
Hiro spoke for Kisa, as he often did. "I think Kagura's still at the university. She should be coming home soon." Hiro had no snide comments for Akito, he never did. In fact, only for Akito and Kisa would Hiro hold his sharp tongue. "We'll go wait for her at the gate and bring her when she gets home."  
  
Akito nodded absently. "Yes. Good idea." Just as Kisa was getting ready to stand up and go with Hiro, Akito looked at her softly. "I'm sorry. I thought you would hurt him. I wanted to hurt you, but...I didn't want to. You're my family, my tiger. I want to protect you, too." He muttered. "You aren't her. I know that." Then he laughed wildly and leaned against Ritsu's side. "Women. It can't be all women. Junku, she wasn't like that. I remember...I remember her. She would never hurt me." His gaze shifted again to the unusually active birds. "Go away now. Go get the rest of my family."  
  
Hiro and Kisa wasted no time in obeying and nearly ran out of Akito's house. Ritsu felt so helpless. "Would you like me to call Ayame and have him come?" Ritsu asked timidly. He'd be glad to have Ayame close and, if he knew Ayame, Ayame would likely bring Hatori, no matter what Akito had said to Ritsu. Ritsu wouldn't disobey Akito, but if he didn't tell Ayame that Akito wanted Hatori to stay with Leon, then Hatori would come.  
  
"Yes. Call Ayame and tell him to bring Shigure. My Yuki, too. I want them all here. Even Kyou. He's mine, too."  
  
At the Pit-  
  
Chris-  
  
Chris was startled so badly by the gunfire that he stumbled and slipped on the wet floor of the showers and had to be helped to his feet by Suki. Everyone in the shower froze, but very few of them looked afraid. It was Omi, the boy with the scorpion tattoo, who moved first, even when the gunfire continued. Omi dropped the soap and, with the half-dozen other tattooed children, moved towards the single door.  
  
"Stay with me." Suki whispered to Chris. "Omi will check it out." By this time, not only Suki, but everyone in the showers had gone down to their knees and were huddled around each other. Some of the older kids still stood, staying just behind the tattooed children, but looking just as ready to fight.  
  
Chris just felt kind of numb. So much had happened in just the last few minutes that he didn't think he could feel more frightened no matter what had happened. He'd been kidnapped, stripped naked, and now there were gunshots just a short distance away.  
  
Omi went to the door, taking the lead from everyone else and peered outside, cautiously. "It's clear." He announced. "Everyone, get your clothes. Sounds like its coming from the arena."  
  
"Some of the guys were outside." Suki spoke up, though she kept her voice as soft as Omi's.  
  
"We'll worry about them later." Omi started out, not even checking to see if anyone would follow him or not. Everyone did follow and Chris wondered if Omi was the leader of all the kids. Suki said they fought each other. Sometimes they died. But Suki was worried about some of the kids and Omi seemed to be looking out for everyone. So...were they kind of like a family? That didn't seem right. If they fought and hurt each other, that couldn't be a family.  
  
Everyone put on their clothes, abandoned in the hall outside, though to Chris it felt like he was in the middle of a pride of lions. Everyone was highly on alert and their attention was only half on getting dressed. Everyone kept looking down the long, dark corridor where they'd come down to get to the shower and every now and again a gunshot would ring out. One by one, all the kids followed Omi down the hall, though most hadn't bothered to put on shirts and they were all still soaking wet. Omi and the other kids with the black scorpions went first and Chris with Suki went right after them. When Omi came to a door and pushed it open, Suki and Chris were very close to all the kids with the black scorpions.  
  
Chris gaped when he saw what lay beyond the door. There was a man with a gun and a body on the floor in front of him. Across the sand filled room, Chris saw dozens of grownups all holding guns. Chris slapped a hand over his mouth and wanted to get away. He reached out and grabbed Suki's arm, thankful that she didn't pull away as he thought she might. The moment of comfort didn't last long as there was a gunshot and Suki fell.  
  
Unsure of what had just happened, Chris held onto Suki's arm even as she fell and let her weight pull him to the ground. She fell on her face and didn't move again. All Chris could think of was his last memory of Leon, falling from a bullet. Leon had been shot. Maybe Leon was dead. Suki was dead. She wasn't moving at all.  
  
Someone grabbed Chris and pulled him away from Suki, taking him back to the relative safety of the passageway they'd all just come through. Only Omi didn't move; he stood at the front of the passageway, watching the confrontation and Chris was practically pulled to the back of the crowd when he finally looked at whoever had torn him away from Suki.  
  
Tet-chan! Chris threw himself into Tet-chan's arms, more pleased than he'd ever been to see his friend and protector. He started to cry, finally able to release all his fear now that he was safe with Tet-chan. They killed her! They just shot her and she was nice to me!  
  
"Hush." Tet-chan whispered, petting Chris' hair kindly. "Are you unharmed?"  
  
I'm all right, but they killed Suki, my friend, and there was someone else dead in that other room.  
  
"Friend?" Tet-chan's nose wrinkled at the word. "I don't know what's going on here, but the Count said to get you out of here. Let's go home." Tet-chan lifted Chris onto his back and ran very quickly down the maze-like passages that led around the building.  
  
What happened to my big brother?  
  
"Your brother's in the hospital. Don't worry, the Count's taking care of him."  
  
So Leon was alive. Chris sighed with relief and let his head rest on Tet-chan's shoulder. Everything would be all right so long as Leon was alive. Leon would find the bad people who killed Suki and he'd make that woman sorry for taking Chris and hitting him. Leon would make everything better.  
  
They were running through the halls when Chris saw a pile of bodies. All of them were very dead, the bones half stripped of flesh and innards showing. What happened to them? Chris asked, feeling sick to his stomach. He was going to have nightmares for the rest of his life about this horrible place.  
  
Tet-chan laughed wickedly and ran his tongue over his lips. "They were delicious. Not prime, but very good, nonetheless."  
  
Huh?  
  
"Nothing. Let's go home."  
  
There was a terrible scream from behind them and Chris hugged his arms tighter around Tet-chan's neck. What was that?  
  
"I saw someone interesting when I was looking for you. I think that's him."  
  
Tet-chan-  
  
Tet-chan had locked all the doors leading into that big room before he'd found Chris, making escape for those inside very difficult. The only door he hadn't locked was the one the children had gone through and that was only because he needed the escape route. Well, that and because it was more fun if one's prey were given a sporting chance. Tet-chan locked the doors happily, nearly laughing with glee as he thought of all the delicious humans he would eat his fill of later. All of the ones in that large, round room were responsible for Chris being kidnapped and now none of them would be spared. It wasn't Tet-chan, though, that posed the greatest threat for those unsuspecting humans at that point. Right then, Tet-chan's main responsibility was to get Chris somewhere safe.  
  
It was the orange haired boy who was trying to look human that would do the damage. Tet-chan knew the boy would as soon as he saw him. It was instinct that told Tet-chan that the orange haired boy was a predator.  
  
Tet-chan also knew that this orange haired boy was of interest to the Count. He could feel the potential for violence lurking under the boy's skin. Tet-chan guessed that this orange haired boy would do most of his work for him. It didn't bother Tet-chan, he could always come back after he'd gotten Chris to safety and hunt down the one this orange haired boy missed, a few always escaped. Oh, and then how he would feast! Those few that Chris had seen were nothing more than an appetizer and Tet-chan hungered for more humans to devour.  
  
For now, Tet-chan was just happy to have Chris.  
  
Kyou-  
  
Kyou followed Kureno's scent through the building until he came out at the strangest place. The long hallway Kyou was following went up a flight of stairs and brought Kyou to, in a strange contrast to the rest of the dilapidated building, a set of large, polished wooden doors. Kureno's scent led through the doorway and Kyou saw no reason not to follow. Still...the doors did look strangely out of place.  
  
Going through the doors, Kyou found himself standing behind two rows of chairs that formed a large circle and, just in front of the first row of chairs, was a waist high metal railing. The room was very large, nearly fifty feet across, with lit with long, florescent lights. Each of the chairs were very fine. They were made of wood with well cared for red, velvet cushions. Unfortunately, the most distinctive thing about the strange room was the stench. It was so horrible that Kyou had to raise a hand to cover his nose and mouth, the smell making his still uneasy stomach roll.  
  
'Jeeze, it smells like a hundred locker rooms in here!' The whole place reeked of sweat, plus the metallic scent of blood that was so strong Kyou could almost taste it.  
  
Kyou walked between the chairs and looked over the edge. He saw that the circle of chairs surrounded, of all things, a pit sunk down about ten feet. The floor of the pit was covered in freshly raked sand and several doors leading out of the pit in different directions. 'What is this? The freakin' coliseum?'  
  
"Stop! Get away from me!"   
  
Kyou looked down at the pit just beneath him and a door flew open and a woman ran out, nearly stumbling when she ran onto the sand.   
  
"You can't do this!" The woman turned and looked in the direction she'd run from, giving Kyou a clear look at her face.   
  
Kyou frowned. Ren. She was infamous within the inner circle of the Souma family and even Kyou knew of her and had been warned. She was dangerous enough that Akito had given standing orders that she was not to be associated with for any reason. She'd murdered and worked very hard to help Akito down the road to insanity. They all knew Akito's decree; no one would speak to or acknowledge Ren. She was, in a way, dead to the family. The only time she was allowed back to the estate was at New Years but, even then, she was shunned even more than Kyou was.  
  
"Guess again." The reply was from a very familiar voice. Kureno walked into the lowered Pit far calmer than Ren. Dressed as he usually did, in plain trousers and a white shirt, Kureno hardly looked threatening. Kyou didn't know him well, only that the rooster was always with Akito and was probably his most faithful servant. Kureno would do anything Akito asked, without question.   
  
Kyou's hand inched towards his bracelet, but Kyou stopped himself. He had the strongest urge to show himself, to set his monster free. 'What am I thinking?' Kyou shook his head. 'Must be something in the air.' He focused on what was happening below him and tried to ignore the urge to take off the bracelet. He didn't want to do that. He didn't want to be a monster.  
  
Kureno was holding a gun and Kyou sucked in a breath at the sight of it. He wondered how long Kureno had been carrying a gun and if that was why he was always with Akito. A bodyguard. It wouldn't have been unusual for the head of a house as prominent and wealthy as the Souma family to have a bodyguard and, given Akito's sickly nature and importance to the family, it was unthinkable that he not have a bodyguard. Still, this was the first time Kyou had ever really thought about it.  
  
"You'll be thrown in jail!" Ren screamed desperately. "Whose orders are you following, anyway? Akito's mad as a hatter and you're nothing but his tool! He's using you! Don't you have a mind of your own?"  
  
Kyou couldn't help but think that Shigure was right when he'd once said Ren was as bright as a rock. She was in no position to insult Kureno.  
  
"Yes, and my mind tells me to obey Akito." Kureno answered, without a trace of emotion. "Your reaction is foolish. Akito warned you very clearly to stay away from the estate and the family. You disobeyed. You were warned about the consequences." Kureno aimed calmly and Kyou thought that maybe he should try to stop Kureno. He should yell out or something. Instead, Kyou just stood where he was and watched.  
  
Ren's eyes grew wide with terror as she saw her own death swiftly and surely approaching. She grew desperate. "You're surrounded by armed men, you'll never leave this place alive! You shoot me and all the guards will come running."  
  
Kureno fired the gun and Ren didn't have time to react before she fell, hit. It wasn't a quick death, Kureno had shot her in the belly. Ren screamed with all her might and tears ran down her cheeks. She clutched her stomach as if that could stop the blood from leaking out.   
  
"Justice." Kureno said, walking towards Ren. "You tried to kill Akito. You shouldn't have done that."  
  
"Freak!" Ren screeched up at Kureno who now stood over her. "You're nothing but a freak of nature! Oh, God! You've killed me."  
  
Kureno lowered his gun only long enough to pull out a knife from one of his boots. It was quite long with one serrated edge. Kureno plunged it into Ren's chest and, for the first time since Kyou had seen him, showed emotion. Kureno's face hardened with something far greater than fury. He pulled hard at the knife, now yanking it downward right down to Ren's pelvis. Ren's innards spilled out onto the sandy floor before she died and she spent a moment staring down at her insides in stunned disbelief before she heaved one last gasp and fell face first onto the sand. She twitched once before her body stilled and Kyou nearly choked on the smell.  
  
'He killed her. He really killed her.' Kyou felt his racing heart stop. He'd never seen anyone killed before. 'This can't be happening. He's a murderer. What am I going to do? Shit, oh, shit.' Kyou's hands tightened on the banister. He felt cold all over. 'My cousin's a killer.'  
  
As Ren had predicted, Kureno's gunshot had roused the rest of this strange place and the doors around sandy pit were opened to reveal a great many people with guns raised. Kyou became even more alert with the guns trained on Kureno. He couldn't allow one of the Junikyu to be killed. Kureno was family. Kyou's hand slid down to his bracelet again and his fingers hooked over the beads.  
  
Kureno didn't seem all that upset, finding himself the target of so many guns. It was as if he didn't care at all. He just stood there, the gun held loosely at his side.  
  
Kyou wanted to take the bracelet off. It had felt heavy ever since that weird guy with the purple eyes and long hair had done...whatever it was that he'd done to Kyou. Since he'd been sick the bracelet felt heavy and Kyou wanted nothing more than to be rid of it.  
  
"Welcome back, Kureno." A man dressed very finely stepped out among the armed men and women, looking very confident. He was tall and heavily built, with a black cigar hanging from his lips as he spoke.  
  
"Wei." Kureno said, evenly.  
  
"I have to admit, I wasn't expecting you to return." He glanced at Ren's body, now staining the sand with her blood. "Still, it's good to know your training wasn't in vain."  
  
One door, the last unopened door, opened and Kyou was shocked to see a dozen or more children appear. They were all different ages and some of them looked as young as five years old. The first one through the door was a boy no older than Kyou. He wore plain grey trousers and a tattoo on his chest. There were several children behind him, some with tattoos and some without, both boys and girls.  
  
It was bad timing.  
  
One of the gunmen, Kyou couldn't see which one it was, opened fire, probably startled by the sound of the door opening. One of the children, a girl with shaggy grey hair, jerked and fell forward. The children surged back the way they'd come, but that one gunshot was enough. The first boy who'd come through the door, one with the scorpion tattoo on his chest, stood in the doorway as if he were shielding the other children behind him. His eyes never strayed from what was going on in the middle of the arena. Not a single person made a move towards the shot girl, not even to check and see if she was still alive.  
  
Kyou saw red.  
  
That little girl was no older than Kisa.  
  
Kyou's tore off his bracelet and let it fall to the floor before he threw himself over the railing and let himself fall the ten or so feet to the sandy floor where Kureno was in the line of sight of all of those guns. He couldn't control his fall, as the change began to overtake him the moment his bracelet had come off, and he landed roughly on his side.  
  
The agony!  
  
Kyou arched and writhed, biting back screams as his body reformed itself into his other, natural self. He heard screams around him, he heard Kureno yell for him to stop, but it was to late. Kyou's body grew, the bones and muscles lengthening, his eyes changed showing the world in strange colors of black and white and red and green. He heard the sizzling of his own flesh as it reshaped, the terrible heat burning him from the inside out.  
  
Then it was done and Kyou stood up, raising himself to his full height, looking around at his stunned, silent enemies. They'd killed a helpless little girl and they were going to kill Kureno. Kyou's vision refocused on the human creatures around him, their thundering heartbeats and the scent of fear that suddenly permeated the pit.  
  
"Dear God, what is it?" Came a frightened whisper.  
  
"That smell! I'm going to puke!"  
  
"Kyou! Get out of here!" Kureno seized Kyou's arm and tried to pull him away, but even Kureno was no match for Kyou's tree form enraged. Kyou grabbed Kureno's hand and lifted him easily into the air. Kureno gave no sign or hint of fear when he met Kyou's eyes. "Akito will be angry when he heard you've revealed yourself to so many people."  
  
Another shot rang out and Kureno's winced when the bullet hit him in the arm. He didn't cry out, though the colors did drain from his face.  
  
"Kureno!" Kyou snarled and turned away from his injured cousin. He tossed Kureno backwards, towards the children, hoping that Kureno would be able to keep the children safe, before he looked at the shooters. It was the man, Wei. His eyes narrowed and cold, Wei took aim again, this time at Kyou.  
  
"Shoot, you clods! Wei shouted without taking his eyes from Kyou. "It's a monster of flesh and blood. Kill it before it attacks."  
  
The hail of bullets began immediately and Kyou held up his massive arms to shield his faces. It didn't take long for Kyou to realize the bullets weren't hurting and he lowered his arms. Oh, he could feel the bullets, but the pain was nothing more than that of bee stings to his hard exoskeleton.  
  
'They're killers. Evil.' Kyou looked again at the body of the little girl who'd been killed. 'Kisa. That could have been Kisa. Not one of them even tried to help her.' A stray bullet that was meant for Kyou hit another child, a little boy near Kureno. The child grabbed his stomach with both hands and fell to his knees. Crying, the little boy didn't die, but kept his eyes clenched tightly closed and it was Kureno who put an arm around the little boy and was helping him to lay down. Kureno didn't try to get near Kyou again and Kyou was grateful. He didn't want Kureno to be hurt.  
  
"Stop it!" Kyou yelled, his screeching, inhuman voice resounded like thunder even above the gunfire when he looked at the gun wielding men and women.  
  
No one listened. The guns never wavered in their aim at Kyou, even though it was obvious that it was doing no good. The bullets bounded off him.  
  
"Stop! Stop!" Kyou raised both of his claw-like hands over his head and bashed them into the floor, sending up a cloud of sand and dust. "I'll kill you all, stop it!" One child dead and one injured. Kureno was shot. "Don't make me kill you!"  
  
Still, no one listened.  
  
"They're only little kids! You'll kill them! Stop it!" It was no good. Kyou knew, by this time, that they wouldn't listen and there seemed to be no end to the rounds in their guns. If he didn't do something, everyone would die.  
  
Kyou sprung at the attackers and the first one he killed was Wei. The man looked surprised when Kyou was at him so suddenly, but it wasn't hard with Kyou's true body. His long, muscular legs were able to make the long leap across the sandy floor and his hand was around Wei's head before his feet landed. It was so easy. Kyou crushed Wei's head before the man had time to cry out. Blood and pink brain leaked out between Kyou's fingers before he opened his hand and let Wei's corpse fall.  
  
Silence virtually echoed as the gunfire had stopped when Kyou had begun to move. As if his sudden movement had made them all realize what they were up again. A few tired to escape, but found the doors they'd come in from locked tightly. A mass panic spread through the crowd of attackers and the gunfire began again in desperation.  
  
It didn't matter what they were thinking or feeling, Kyou didn't care. They were worthless, undeserving of pity or mercy. They hurt little children.   
  
Kyou remembered a lesson his master had once taught him. "You must always protect those weaker than yourself. You've been blessed with great strength, Kyou. Use it."  
  
Kyou did as his master had once taught him. Kyou began killing and just couldn't stop. Kyou's mind dulled to the screams and the smells and the sights around him. He didn't care, so long as they all died. He went through the terrified crowd, killing and killing, lost in the carnage. Kyou ripped them apart and beat them against the floor or walls until they were nothing but unrecognizable lumps of flesh.  
  
When it was over, Kyou stood in the middle of the sandy floor, his heart rate slowly lowering and his breath evening out. For a moment, he looked around, alert for more enemies, but no one was left. The only life in the room was Kyou and the cluster of staring children who huddled around Kureno.   
  
Kyou realized what he'd done and horror overtook him.  
  
'Akito was right.' Kyou looked down at his bloodied hands and back at his victims. The people he'd killed. 'Akito was right all this time. I AM a monster.' What he'd done stunned Kyou. This time it was bad people he'd killed, but what about next time? What if he got to angry and he hurt Tohru or Yuki? What about the rest of the family? The people at school? 'I should be locked away.' Kyou gave one great leap upwards and landed where he'd begun, at the raised seats. He paused only long enough to grab his bracelet and slip it on before he began running.  
  
Kureno-  
  
"Kyou! Kyou!" It was too late. Kyou was gone and Kureno was left alone with a room full of corpses and a dozen or so children. It was time to evaluate his priorities.  
  
Ren was dead. That was the most immediate problem solved.  
  
A bullet had hit his arm, but it was little more than a big scratch. The blood loss was minimal, so his life wasn't at risk. It could be taken care of at a later time.   
  
Kyou's actions were very...unexpected. Yet, not an emergency. Kyou was unharmed, except for possibly his emotional state, and would survive. He would return to one of three places-Kazuma's dojo, Shigure's house, or the estate. At any one of the places, he would be taken care of. It was the result of Kyou's transformation that would have to be fixed.   
  
That left one problem to be solved. The children were all witnesses to the Souma family secret. They had seen Kyou's original self.  
  
Kureno looked at the children and saw so much of his life in them. He knew them, their lives and fears; he'd lived them, after all. All the stony faces that looked back at Kureno were masks, the only protection that these children had. Without hopes for a better future outside the Pit or a dream of what life could be, all they could do was turn inward and try not to break under the stress of their lives.  
  
"Your owners are dead." Kureno's statement was met by calm, guarded stares. They didn't care. Why should they? Not a one of them harbored affection for the adults who 'took care of them'. The children all knew they were nothing more than valuable property. "What will you do now?" This time, Kureno got more of a reaction to his question. Some of the younger children looked confused. Kureno knew they were probably frightened, even if they wouldn't show it. They had no life outside the Pit, no family or friends or even an education. They couldn't live outside their only known world.  
  
If Akito hadn't bought Kureno and taken him into the safety of the Souma estate, he never would have left the Pit. As one of the few lucky chosen to be marked by the Black Scorpion, Kureno would have survived his childhood, though he didn't know what lay beyond it. For those children not marked by the Black Scorpion, life ended at their eighteenth birthday. Adults were useless to a business that was supported by child murderers. Customers paid to see children, not adult, fight and kill.  
  
"Come with me." Kureno holstered his gun and began his way out of the Pit. He wouldn't force any of them to go with him, but he knew they would come.  
  
"Why?" The question was asked by the oldest boy amongst the group, one of the Black Scorpion and therefore one of the more dangerous ones. It was this boy who now carried the younger injured boy. The poor child had long since passed out from pain and was held limply.  
  
"Why not?" Kureno locked eyes with the boy. "Where else will you go? Come with me and I will give you food and a place to spend the night." It was all Kureno could offer, but it was enough. Really, they had no where else to turn. "I'm Kureno."  
  
"I'm Omi."  
  
So, like the pied piper leading his band of laughing children, Kureno led the somber faced children of the Pit out into the light of day. They followed him without question about where they were going. It wasn't trust, but a lack of any better direction. There were other children, the ones who'd been outside the Pit, a few lucky ones who had been given permission to sit in the sun for a few hours. They hadn't seen anything and were no risk to the family, but Kureno didn't turn them away when they fell in with the rest of the children. They wouldn't survive without help.  
  
'Hatori can take their memory of Kyou's transformation and then...then...' Kureno had no idea what would happen to them. Akito would perhaps turn them out onto the streets or, if he were in a kindlier mood, perhaps he would call child-welfare on their behalf.   
  
Part of Kureno wished that they would be treated gently, in whatever life they were given after this. They deserved a childhood. A real childhood.  
  
To be continued...  
  
Author's note: Thank you for all of you who've reviewed the past chapters. The next chapter, I'll thank you properly. I hope everyone's enjoyed this chapter..  
  
Till next time... 


	21. Long Denied Explanations

Chapter 21: Long Denied Explanation  
  
Tohru-  
  
She woke laying on a soft patch of grass and looking up at a canopy of tree branches, full and lush with bright spring leaves. The sun shone brightly through the branches and Tohru had to blink from the sharp, almost painful brightness of it. She couldn't see the sky, only the sunlight.  
  
'A forest?' Tohru sat up slowly and looked around. 'Shigure's forest? Where am I?' She wasn't hurt at all, but she remembered falling from the second story window of Shigure's house. She should be hurt. Tohru wasn't one to question good luck, but it was strange. How could she have gotten so far from Shigure's house?  
  
She was also completely naked. Tohru gasped and put her arms up to protect her modesty, though it really didn't do any good. Where on Earth had her clothes gone to? 'Thank goodness there's no one around.'  
  
"What a pretty little thing you are."  
  
Tohru screamed.  
  
"I'm not that scary."  
  
When Tohru stopped screaming and actually looked at the speaker, she saw a strange boy standing with her. He was about her age, but she had never seen anyone so wild looking. His hair was bright red and tied into a very long braid that hung over his shoulder with careless ease. One of his ears was pierced with a dangling metal fish and he wore tall black combat boots. Over a sleeveless black shirt that revealed quite a good deal of his stomach, the boy wore a see through shirt and a gold crucifix on a chain around his neck. She couldn't try any harder to cover herself, but Tohru tried.  
  
The boy didn't seem to even notice Tohru's state of undress.  
  
"I heard we had a new lady with us, but I didn't believe it. Especially not when the lady is put in my glen. No one ever comes here, especially not someone like you." The boy stepped closer until he stood over Tohru and held out his hand to her. His fingernails were long and sharp, like little knives. "Let me help you to your feet, lady."  
  
"Lady?" Tohru's voice squeaked and she blushed at such deference. Yuki was the only person who'd ever spoken to her with such out of place respect and she was only just learning how to deal with that. She could think of Yuki as a prince and that explained his exquisite manners, but she didn't even know this boy. "Oh, there must be a mistake. I...uh...I don't really know what's going on, but you must have mistaken me for someone else. I, that is, could you tell me where I am and how I get home?"  
  
"I can tell you where you are, but I don't even know where your home is." The boy was still holding out his hand and grinning wickedly. "Won't you let me help you, pretty lil' miss?"  
  
He was being so polite and it would be rude to refuse. "Yes, of course. Thank you very much." Tohru reached up and let the boy take her hand. His fingernails, while very long and sharp, didn't dig into Tohru's hand. "Please, do you know where I can find some clothes?"  
  
"What a lot of questions you have. I can find you some clothes, lil' miss. You can have anything you like, we're all pretty relaxed about that sort of thing. I'm not sure why you'd want to put on clothes though. It's not like you have anything to be ashamed of." His eyes crinkled, as if he were trying not to laugh, and his tongue shot out to lick over his lips. "You're so...delicious looking."  
  
Tohru paled and snatched her hand away from the strange boy's. 'Kyou always told me I'd get kidnapped and Shigure said to beware of perverts in the forest...! What have I walked into?!'  
  
The boy laughed merrily and danced away from Tohru on nimble feet. "Teasing! Just teasing! Don't worry, here, you can have this. There ya go." He slipped off his sheer shirt and tossed it to Tohru. Unfortunately, Tohru had to reach out to grab it, giving the strange boy a clear look at Tohru's body and he laughed when she pulled the shirt on as quickly as possible and held it closed with her hands. It didn't do much good, but Tohru felt better jut having something on.  
  
"You can call me, Ten-chan." The strange boy said when he'd finished laughing. "That's what the Count likes to call me. You're in my glen, just like I said. It's a little too quiet here, but it's home. Certainly better than where I came from. The way you're talking, I guess you must be new here, huh?"  
  
"The Count? Who's he? Where am I new?" Tohru tried not to sound as horrified as she felt, but she couldn't help but think of all her friends. What would everyone think if they saw her like this? Naked but for a see- through shirt and talking with a complete stranger in the middle of a forest. If Ten-chan would just point Tohru in the right direction, she could find her way home and find out what happened to everyone.  
  
Ten-chan looked surprised and his eyes, shaded with orange color, sprung open. His eyes, when Tohru looked closely, were different. They were green, but the pupils were long and slanted. "The Count? Well...he's the Count. You must have seen him when he brought you here. Didn't he give you a room?"  
  
"I don't remember anyone bringing me here. I just woke up. I thought I was at Souma Shigure's house. Do you know where that is? I really have to get home, everyone will be worrying."  
  
"No matter where your home is, it's no where near here." Ten-chan shrugged, making his narrow shoulders roll. "Oh, well. The Count will be back soon and I'm sure he'll explain everything. He must have a reason for bringing you here, even if I still can't figure out why you're in my den instead of with the other birds."  
  
"But who is the Count?" Tohru paused when she realized what he'd said. "What do you mean, 'other birds'?"  
  
Ten-chan looked up at the canopy of trees and the light shining down at them. "You really don't know anything, do you?" With his head tilted back, Ten-chan's hair fell back, revealing his ears and Tohru gasped in surprise. Ten-chan's ears were long and pointed and the first thing Tohru thought of when she saw them was a movie she'd seen with Kagura and Kisa. The three of them had taken a girls night out, on Kagura's insistence, and gone to see a movie about elves. The elves in the movie had all been very beautiful, but nothing like Ten-chan except for the long, tapered ears. "Do you honestly believe you're human, little miss?"  
  
"Of course I'm human." Tohru answered, though she had a troubling memory. Something that nagged at the back of her mind. Just after she'd been thrown out the window there was a strange memory of feathers and a warm hand holding her.  
  
"I can see you and, trust me, you are NOT human." He smiled at Tohru, showing off his sharp canines. "Why don't you come to the lake and wash up a bit? You look like you'd like to wash your face."  
  
"I really shouldn't stay." Tohru tried to protest, though Ten-chan didn't listen and pulled her along anyway. "I have to go look for Yuki and Kyou; I need to see if they're all right."  
  
"Who're they?" They'd already gotten to the lake which Tohru somehow hadn't noticed before.  
  
"My friends. They were attacked and I tried to help, but..."  
  
"Wait, wait. YOU tried to fight?" Ten-chan asked in amazement. "Lil' miss, you can't go against nature and you, most definitely, were not meant to fight."  
  
"How do you know? You don't even know me."  
  
Ten-chan laughed again. "It's pretty obvious, don't you think?" Ten-chan squatted down next to water and gestured at it. "Take a look at yourself, lil' miss."  
  
Tohru did as he said, though she felt more than a little nervous, and looked into a water. Her reflection wasn't there. Instead, fluttering in the air just next to Ten-chan, was a small, grey bird. When Tohru spoke, her voice was no more than a whisper. "What's happening?" Tohru's knees felt weak and she moved to sit on the ground next to Ten-chan. When she did, the little bird that was her reflection, also landed and stared back at Tohru with shiny black eyes. "What am I?" Tohru's voice was faint, but she could clearly see the little bird's beak opening and closing with her words.  
  
Ten-chan put a hand on Tohru's shoulder and his reflection put a hand on the little bird's head. "A bird. Who do you think you are?"  
  
"I'm Tohru. I KNOW I'm Tohru. Please, I just want to go home." Tohru couldn't stop herself from crying and she doubled over, squeezing her eyes tightly closed. She really didn't want to look at her bird's reflection.  
  
Ten-chan patted her back. "Awww, come on, don't cry. It's not really all that bad. You're a very pretty bird." He didn't seem to understand the problem, but Tohru was glad he was such a nice boy.  
  
She leaned into Ten-chan's side for just a moment before Tohru realized just how foolish she was being. Crying never solved anything and she wasn't going to just sit here and feel sorry for herself. She was a person, not a bird. It was a trick or something. "I'm sorry..." She started, looking up at Ten-chan. "I'm being very silly. I really have to leave."  
  
Ten-chan didn't look happy with that. "I really think you should talk with the Count before you go anywhere, lil' miss. You shouldn't be wandering around on your own if you don't even know what you are."  
  
Tohru managed a strained laugh. "I get it. You're playing a joke on me. You really had me scared, but I have to go."  
  
Ten-chan turned his head slightly to the side and then closed his eyes. All of a sudden, in a graceful, fluid movement, Ten-chan changed shape into that of a silver-white fox with nine long, fluffy tails. It wasn't an illusion or trick of the light. The boy, Ten-chan, was gone. "Don't be afraid." The white fox told Tohru. "You'll get used to us. You're in no danger so there's nothing to be sad about. I'm new here, myself, so I'll look out for you. I'm a kitsune, so I can take many shapes and forms, but this is what I really look like. You belong here with us."  
  
And Tohru found that it was true. She tried to touch Ten-chan, but her hands weren't hands any longer. Instead, she had wings. Tohru found herself on the grass, looking up at the now huge Ten-chan. He leaned down and lay his head on the ground next to her. "Stay here a while, lil' miss. The Count will be back soon and I'll stay with you till he gets here."  
  
It wasn't a dream. It was all real. 'I'm not human.' Tohru couldn't escape that reality. Ten-chan was no boy, but a fox spirit. Tohru felt very lost and very alone.  
  
Yuki-  
  
It was perhaps the most stressful couple of hours that Yuki had ever had to endure and that included the nights he'd spent locked in the small room in Akito's house. At least when Akito decided Yuki needed punishment for something he perceived Yuki had done wrong Yuki knew what was going on. He knew Akito was sick and he knew the door would eventually open and he'd be let out. At the time, Yuki had felt as if he were going through Hell every time he was locked in that room or Akito would start in a rage and beat him. Now, knowing that Tohru and Kyou were in serious danger, Yuki felt as if nothing else mattered. He hated, more than anything else, depending on other people yet somehow he'd come to depend on Tohru and Kyou very much. He needed them.  
  
Shigure had been largely silent ever since they'd started towards the estate and that was strange in itself. Though Shigure was still leaning on Yuki, he didn't seem nearly so dazed as he'd been when Yuki had found him. Shigure's eyes were far away, as if he were thinking deeply about something.  
  
"I think I've figured it out, Yuki." Shigure said all of a sudden. "It's taken me a long time, but I think I know what's going on." It was Shigure's idea to go to the estate and Yuki really didn't have any better ideas. His rats weren't giving him any information at all and he had no clue about where to look for Tohru or Kyou. After he took Shigure to the estate, he would go to Kazuma's dojo, that seemed like the most logical place to look. He still couldn't figure out what had happened to Tohru, though.  
  
Yuki scowled, the stress of the passed few hours coming out in his venom laced words. "You only NOW figure out that we're in trouble? My, but aren't you sharp today?"  
  
"We've been in trouble for a long time, Yuki, but you don't know just how long. Thousands of years it's been going on and now we have to deal with the past. He went after Kyou, you know. What is it about the cat that makes it special? Different?"  
  
"We all know how Kyou's different. What's all this babble about?" Yuki didn't want to listen to Shigure's nonsense. This day was hard enough to deal with without Shigure's going on about who-knows-what. He desperately wanted to go look for Kyou and Tohru, but he couldn't just leave Shigure alone, not in his half-dazed condition.  
  
"How different is Kyou? Why?" Shigure persisted, meeting Yuki's eyes with an intense gaze. "Kyou is a Souma, one of the cursed. We all know that. If he were just like us and reality followed the legend, Kyou should change from a human into a cat and that would be all. Didn't you ever wonder about Kyou's original self? None of the rest of us has an original self, only the cat. Doesn't that strike you as just a little bit odd?"  
  
Yuki turned away from Shigure, uncomfortable with the questions he had no answers to. Yuki was a very intelligent boy and he was rightfully proud of his mind. These questions that Shigure were asking had no answers and Yuki didn't like that. He'd always believed that every mystery had a solution, but he never had been able to figure out the curse. "It's just the way it is. What are you hinting at? Do you know something about that man who attacked Kyou?"  
  
"I think...I just think I may. But there wasn't only one, you saw three of them, just like I did. I want to know who the other two are. They didn't try to hurt Kyou and tried to stop the first one, from what you tell me. They might be who we need."  
  
"I don't understand a thing you're saying." Yuki told Shigure and wondered if his eccentric cousin was delirious. He'd seen the three men who all look very similar, like twins, and the one cloaked man who'd told him that Tohru wasn't human. He'd seen them come in through the window, which wasn't normal for a start, and he'd seen how badly the long haired one had hurt Kyou. What was Shigure talking about? 'They might be who we need.' Why would they need people who could hurt them so badly?  
  
Shigure's hand tightened on Yuki's shoulder, almost painfully. He whispered softly, "He cursed our family."  
  
"What?"  
  
"He is the cause of...of everything!" Shigure's normally placid face twisted with hate for but a moment and his fingers dug painfully into Yuki's shoulder. Then, his face went calm again and he seemed to look within himself. "All the pain. It's all his fault. He took something from us that was so vital to the family that it nearly destroyed us."  
  
"What did he take?" Yuki asked in spite of himself. Whatever had happened to Shigure was obviously affecting his mind. Shigure couldn't know the cause of the curse. It was just to much to hope for. He would keep Shigure happy and talking until they reached the estate and Yuki could deliver him to Hatori.  
  
"Our cat." Shigure went on in a dreadful voice. "He murdered our cat and that set the family in a downward spiral."  
  
"Kyou's not dead, he's still alive!" Yuki didn't like the thought of Kyou dead. Despite all the fights they'd had, Yuki's stomach clenched at the thought of Kyou being killed. It was possible, Kyou had lost a lot of blood and he'd been disoriented when he'd left the house. Anything might have happened to Kyou.  
  
Shigure wasn't listening to Yuki. "Everyone wants power. Its greed, pure and simple. What power, though? What does Kyou have that no one else on Earth has? His original self. It must have something to do with the original self and the bracelet. Power. That's the key. Everyone desires power of one kind or another. Power to protect. Power to excel. What can the cat do? There must be something..." Shigure's voice died away and he suddenly stopped walking, his eyes fixed on something ahead. When Yuki followed his gaze, he saw the strangest animal. It looked like a rabbit with bat wings and horns. It's feet were webbed, like a ducks, and it had a long, rat-like tail. "Q-chan." Shigure gasped, his eyes wide with shock.  
  
"You know what that thing is?"  
  
The rabbit thing was sitting in the branches of a tree on the side of the road. It wasn't actually doing anything and, if it weren't for the fact that it was blinking at them, Yuki might have thought it was some kind of joke. The little rabbit thing squeaked at them before it flew off the branch it was sitting on and flew down, hovering in front of Shigure. It looked him square in the face. "You are Q-chan, aren't you? Just like in the diary." Shigure's voice was hushed with awe and it froze Yuki to hear something like that from Shigure.  
  
What diary could Shigure be talking about and why was his talking to an impossible creature? It was impossible for that rabbit thing to exist, yet it did. Yuki was looking at it with his own eyes and he trusted his eyes more than anything. He believed in what he could see, therefore he had to believe that the rabbit thing was real. Impossible, yet real. Just like the Zodiac curse.  
  
Shigure let go of his hold on Yuki and, for the first time since the bizarre attack on their home, stood up straight and tall, staring back at the thing he called Q-chan. "What's going on? You helped us before. Can't you help us again?"  
  
Q-chan didn't answer, but kept flapping it's wings and staying in front of Shigure. It squeaked unintelligibly and showed off tiny little fangs.  
  
"Please," Shigure begged desperately. "Tell me something! Anything! I need to know what's going on! I'm the protector, how can I protect if I don't know what's going on?"  
  
Again, Q-chan just squeaked.  
  
Yuki spoke up, still not sure why he felt slightly disappointed that Q-chan failed to answer when Shigure obviously expected it to. "Shigure, you said we have to get to the estate and I have to find Kyou and Honda-san. We should go." He didn't know what the rabbit thing was, but they had more important things to do than talk to a strange animal. Kyou could be dying and Tohru was probably very badly hurt from her fall. To make it all worse, not one of the rats Yuki had sent out to look for his missing friends had returned with any word of them. In fact, it was almost as if the rats were purposely avoiding Yuki.  
  
"No!" Shigure shrugged off Yuki's hand and spoke with more life that he had in all the time that Yuki had known him. "We can't leave now! Q-chan has the answers." Just as Shigure said that, Q-chan abruptly turned and began to fly away, down the sidewalk towards the local park. "Wait!" Shigure called out after it. "Come back, don't go!" Shigure started after Q-chan and Yuki went after Shigure.  
  
"Where are you going?" Yuki cried out. Shigure was a lot faster than Yuki had thought he was and Yuki was only just able to keep up, even running as fast as he could go. It was shocking, really. "You said we have to get back to the estate!"  
  
Shigure slowed a moment, but he didn't stop chasing Q-chan. "I have to have answers. I've waited so long to know, this could save us all."  
  
"What are you talking about?!" Why was it always so hard to get answers from Shigure? Even at times like this Shigure seemed to be talking in circles.  
  
"The curse! He knows how it began!" Shigure put on another burst of speed and Yuki found himself falling behind. 'Damn him!' Yuki thought as he grit his teeth and prepared to try and catch up with Shigure. Before he got very far, though, Yuki saw something out of the corner of his eyes. A long haired man in a kimono that made Yuki looked twice, it was Kazuma and there were red hand prints on his kimono sleeves. Kazuma, a highly intelligent and serene man, was standing with a shocked, almost horrified look on his face. He was staring down a street that intersected the street Yuki and Shigure had been running down. Yuki looked back up at Shigure, quickly vanishing into the distance, before he sighed and changed directions. He'd catch up with Shigure later.  
  
Kazuma, a kind and quiet teacher, had always been good to Yuki. He never pushed Yuki for anything and gave him space, even in training. Training had always been a special time for Yuki. It was a time when nothing mattered, not the curse, not the family. Kyou took classes with Yuki and it was the only time when neither of them fought. Kazuma, unlike the rest of the family, expected them NOT to fight. Controlled sparing was allowed, brawling was not. So though they disliked each other and didn't actually talk during lessons, Yuki and Kyou were able to get along for an hour or so every few days. Even their expected feud meant nothing during training.  
  
For Kyou, Yuki knew, martial arts was a way to show his gratitude to Kazuma for adopting him. Kyou knew how much Kazuma valued his training in the art of fighting, so Kyou went to great pains to become the best possible student. Naturally, Kyou had become excellent at fighting as he threw himself into it, body and soul.  
  
Yuki had also become very good at the martial arts Kazuma taught, but for a different reason. Yuki had no one to impress, no family that would be proud of him for his accomplishments. At the time, it had seemed that Yuki had no one to impress but himself. It was a control issue for Yuki. At a time in his life where he felt completely out of control and he'd begun dangerous experimentation at finding something he could control, a time he'd gone through a battle with anorexia, silence, and suicide attempts, martial arts lessons had become a saving grace. While Kazuma's lessons weren't able to entirely stop Yuki's self-destructive behavior or make life all that much more attractive, it was able to give Yuki a small amount of pleasure to know he could control one small thing: his own body.  
  
Kazuma's patience and kindness were the only happy memories he had of his childhood and Yuki had always been grateful. He couldn't just walk away when Kazuma was looking so lost and forlorn.  
  
"Master?" Yuki called out when he crossed the street. "Master, are you all right?"  
  
Kazuma didn't seem to hear Yuki at first, he was staring down the side street so intently with unreadable eyes. When he did turn to look at Yuki, Yuki saw that the red marks he'd seen on Kazuma's arms were hand prints. Bloody hand prints. "Yuki." Kazuma said in greeting.  
  
"What's going on? Are you hurt?" Though for the life of him, Yuki couldn't imagine anyone strong enough to hurt Kazuma. Even in the Souma family, where fighting was as much a tradition as anything else, Kazuma was a legend.  
  
"Kyou..." "You've seen Kyou? Where is he?" Yuki asked urgently, desperate to find at least one of his friends.  
  
Kazuma raised a hand and pointed down the street he'd been staring down. "That way. He...he ran away from me. Said he didn't want to be near me." The pain was so bare that it hurt Yuki just to hear it and he looked at Kazuma with pity. "Something happened. There was blood everywhere." Suddenly, Kazuma wasn't the ever calm, serene teacher he had always been. He was a father and he was terrified for Kyou.  
  
"I'll find him, master." Yuki promised.  
  
Kazuma nodded and looked at Yuki. "Bring him home, please."  
  
Yuki's eyes went to Kazuma's temple, though. "Master, what happened to your head?" There was a small cut on Kazuma's left temple. It was barely bleeding, but there was a thin trail where a few drops of blood had dripped down the side of Kazuma's face.  
  
"Kyou's gotten stronger." Kazuma said, raising a hand to his cut temple. "It surprised me. He wasn't so strong or fast just a short time ago."  
  
"Kyou attacked you?!" Yuki couldn't help the disbelief in his voice. He knew how deeply Kyou loved and revered Kazuma. He had never thought that Kyou would ever raise a hand to deliberately hurt Kazuma.  
  
"He didn't want me near him. He said I couldn't help him. I tried to talk to him, but he didn't want to talk. He gets so stubborn and he was so upset. He didn't mean to hurt me. I think he was as surprised as I was."  
  
Yuki didn't know what to say to that. He nodded once and started away in the direction Kyou had gone.  
  
Kyou-  
  
Kyou didn't know how far he'd run or where he'd gone, all he wanted to do was get away from what he'd done. He couldn't stop himself from shaking, even as he ran. He just wanted to get away from the blood. 'I never wanted to hurt anyone. Not even Yuki, really.' That was a big admission from Kyou, but it was the truth. The whole rivalry was 'expected'. It wasn't real. Oh, that didn't mean that Kyou liked Yuki. The rat irritated Kyou more than anyone else on the face of the planet, but Kyou didn't actually hate him. Well, not all the time, anyway. He was family and Kyou enjoyed the thrill of the fight to much to want to hurt Yuki. The objective was to defeat Yuki in fair combat, not kill him. He didn't want to kill, but he had. He'd killed so many people.  
  
"Damn it, this is your fault." Kyou growled once he began to slow his break- neck pace and he looked down at his wrist. It was just like that horrible dream, that wasn't a dream. The guy that hurt him so bad and made him so sick had come to him in a dream and the bracelet bled. Now, the bracelet was once again coated in blood. "Other people's blood. I don't want you. Why me? I never did anything to deserve this. I never wanted to be a monster." He didn't care that people were staring at him as he walked down the street. What did any of them matter? They all went about their blissful lives, ignorant of anything that went on around them. None of these stupid humans had the slightest idea that a monster walked amongst them.  
  
"That boy's soaked in blood!" Someone whispered, staring at Kyou.  
  
"Someone call the police."  
  
"No! It's not our business."  
  
"But, he must be hurt."  
  
"Leave the kid alone. Pretend you don't see him, he'll be fine. He could be dangerous, from one of those gangs."  
  
Pretend you don't see him. Pretend he doesn't exist. It sounded so familiar. Pretend you don't see the cat, maybe he'll go away. 'None of them wanted me around, anyway. Smart. I was just to stupid to realize they were right. Mom killed herself because she couldn't bear to be near me.' Kyou thought of his mother, her face strained with a smile and lined with wrinkles worry had brought to her early in life. Kyou had always thought his mother was so beautiful, right up until the end when he watched her raise a gun to her forehead and... "She knew I was a monster, but she tried to love me. Maybe she was right. Death was the easiest way out for her, no problems after death, right? Maybe...' Kyou's eyes lifted from the bracelet that kept his hated self from emerging to what lay before him. The street. At this time of day, the streets were filled with cars and it would be so easy to just step out in front of one of them. 'Maybe death's for me, too. The family can't lock me up if I'm dead. I'll never hurt anyone again if I'm dead. The monster won't get loose. No down side, right?'  
  
Kyou was so focused on what suddenly seemed like a very good idea that he didn't see where he was going and he rammed right into someone.  
  
"Kyou! Where have you been? I've been terribly worried."  
  
"M-master?" Kazuma had grabbed Kyou by the arms and Kyou reflexively did the same. They stood there a moment like that, just looking at each other. "What are you doing out here?" Kyou was very conscious of the drying blood on his face and hands and clothes. He thought there was even some in his hair.  
  
"Looking for you." Kazuma swallowed hard and looked Kyou up and down very slowly. "Is any of that yours?"  
  
"No, master." Kyou answered. "I have to go, master." He had no excuses for the way he looked and didn't think he could tell Kazuma the truth. How could he possibly tell his gentle master what he'd done? To Kyou, it didn't matter that he'd done what he'd done in Kureno's defense or to protect more than a dozen children. Excuses were worthless and the only fact that mattered was the end result. The simple fact was that he was a murderer. Kyou tried to push passed Kazuma, but Kazuma stood firm.  
  
"Go? Kyou, tell me what happened. We have to get you home and cleaned up. No matter what happened, we'll fix it."  
  
Fix it? Kyou began to laugh. He couldn't stop and he felt really stupid for it, but it really was the funniest thing. They could fix the fact that Kyou had killed. He'd left the still warm corpses just laying around and the police were sure to find them sooner or later. Lots of people must have seen Kyou walk into that weird place. So Kyou laughed. Kazuma was right, though. Akito could fix it all. With one phone call, Akito could make it all go away. No police, no newspapers. No one would ever hear a word about what had happened; that was how great the power of the Souma name was. Kyou kept laughing until tears ran down his face and Kazuma was staring at him as if he'd gone mad.  
  
"Fix it? It won't go away." Kyou said when his helpless laughter dissolved into sobs of despair. "None of this is ever going to get better." His voice began to rise hysterically, but Kyou couldn't seem to stop. "No matter what anyone does, it can't be fixed. You can't just fix what I am!"  
  
"What can't be fixed?"  
  
Kyou looked up at Kazuma with tears still in his eyes. "Me." Kyou let go of Kazuma's arms and held his hands up in front of Kazuma's face. "THIS! Look what I did. I killed them."  
  
Kazuma's expression softened into an affectionate smile he often wore for Kyou. "I don't care if you ate them after you killed them. You're my son, in all but blood. I love you." Kazuma put a hand on Kyou's head. "I will help you, no matter what's happened."  
  
"But you can't help." Kyou tried to explain. He realized he couldn't. No matter how much Kazuma might want to help, he would never be able to understand what it was like for Kyou to be a monster, to know he was dangerous.  
  
"I'll do anything I can for you."  
  
Kyou knew Kazuma meant what he said. Kazuma never lied. He would do anything for Kyou if he thought it was for the best. Kazuma had taken the risk of stealing Kyou's precious bracelet and though he though Kyou would hate him and maybe even kill him, Kazuma had done it. Now that the whole nightmare was over, Kyou understood that Kazuma had done it for Kyou's benefit and not as some kind of hateful punishment. He'd done it so that Kyou would finally know whether the people he cared about could fully accept him. It was a worthwhile pain, as far as Kyou was concerned. Kazuma had done something for Kyou that Kyou would never have had the courage to do. He showed Tohru what Kyou really was and, thankfully, Tohru could accept it. If Kazuma hadn't done what he'd done, Kyou might have had to keep that secret from Tohru forever and he really didn't like lying to her.  
  
"I'm sorry." Kyou muttered.  
  
"Sorry? For what?"  
  
Kyou swung his fist up and hit Kazuma on the side of the head, sending him rocking to the side. Kyou started running, not looking back even when he heard Kazuma call for him. He owed Kazuma everything, but, more importantly, he loved Kazuma. No one could ask for a better dad and it was just because of his respect and love for Kazuma that Kyou had hit him. He wouldn't allow himself to stay near anyone he cared about when he was so dangerous.  
  
Kyou didn't run long before his legs began to tire very suddenly. He was coming to the end of the alley, but there was a figure standing, outlined against the light at the other end of the alley. He thought it was a woman, at first, but when Kyou got closer, he wasn't sure.  
  
Shigure-  
  
Shigure followed the fluttering Q-chan like an obsession. He hated leaving Yuki behind, but Yuki was unharmed by the attack and quite able to get back to the estate on his own.  
  
Q-chan, the talking animal that had helped the first Souma's to escape the clutches of Count D. Could this be the same Q-chan or was it a descendant of the first one? Shigure desperately hoped that whatever the creature was, it could answer his questions.  
  
Q-chan led Shigure to the nearby park, always staying just far enough ahead that Shigure couldn't catch up with him. Finally, after leaving the main paths of the park and blindly following Q-chan, Shigure was nearly out of breath. It was then that Q-chan perched on a low hanging branch of a tree and stared at Shigure with what seemed like amused eyes.  
  
"Well?" Shigure demanded, half bent over with his hands on his knees as he panted for breath. "What now? Don't just sit there looking at me. You know what's going on, don't you? Tell me! It's not fair, we're the ones who have to suffer with it, we should at least know what's going on. Who the Hell are you?"  
  
Q-chan took flight again, but didn't fly away. Instead, it hovered for a moment and, before Shigure's shocked eyes, began to change form. It wasn't a puff of smoke or the terrible, agonizing change that took the Junikyu or Kyou. This transformation was graceful, as delicate a change as a the day fading into night. Q-chan folded it's wings around itself and it grew, stretching until it was nearly as tall as Shigure and Shigure's mouth fell open.  
  
"You have questions?" Q-chan was gone and, in it's place stood a man shrouded in a long black cloak. Shigure couldn't see the person's face well, nothing more than the nose and mouth, due to the deep hood that shadowed the person's face.  
  
"Who are you?" Shigure breathed. He shouldn't be so shocked. There was more magic in the world than most people would ever want to know about and Shigure was part of that magic, whether he liked it or not.  
  
"You know who I am. I am now called Sofu D. I am the original, you might say." The cloaked figure didn't look up enough to give Shigure a close look at his face, but Shigure wasn't entirely sure he wanted a close look. He had a pretty good idea what he would see, anyway. "And you are Souma Shigure of the cursed Junikyu, the Twelve. The dog guardian of a dying family."  
  
Shigure tried not to react to the 'dying family' part, but it was hard. "What do you want? Why have you done this to my family?"  
  
"I have done nothing to your family that has hurt you. However, I will admit my part in this. My beloved child has committed this crime and it will be corrected. He is already being punished."  
  
"Punished?" Somehow, the word didn't seem strong enough. This person had caused so many generations of pain for the Souma's. "What kind of punishment could be sever enough for nearly destroying my family?!" Shigure demanded.  
  
"I never said he was being punished for what he did to your family." The cloaked Sofu D grinned at the idea. "He is being punished for a broken contract."  
  
"A contract?"  
  
"All contracts must be honored and my beloved child did not full fill his part of the bargain. The one you know as Ren signed a contract with my child. She would provide a distraction so he would have the opportunity to get the cat of your family. In exchange for the distraction she would provide, my child promised to deliver into her hands the Souma family. This woman, Ren, kept her part of the contract, but did not receive her payment. She is dead, you will be pleased to know."  
  
Shigure's mouth fell open at the mention of the name. "Ren? She was involved in all of this?" He hadn't seen Ren since last New Years, the only time of the year when she was allowed to associate with the family. In fact, though Ren was ostracize from the family, she was still expected to at least make an appearance at New Years. Shigure had to admit that he was pleased to hear Ren was dead.  
  
Shigure remembered it well, because he and Kureno each took turns guarding Akito during New Years for fear that Ren would do something stupid. Of course Kureno would be constantly on guard, but even he needed time to rest and Shigure would cover him then. At nights, when Kureno slept, Shigure would spend that time with Akito. It was no great hardship to spend New Years with Akito. "Yes, Ren WAS involved." Sofu D smiled. "She has suffered a most regrettable accident."  
  
Now confronted with the people who had tried to destroy his family, Shigure really didn't know what to say. There was one question that needed to be answered. "Why Kyou? Why was he attacked and why is the cat so important?"  
  
The man held out one of his pale, long nailed hands and opened it, palm up, to show what he was holding. A small cocoon, like that of a moth or butterfly. "This is an infant. A precious, defenseless treasure locked in a prison. It doesn't yet know what it will become. It doesn't understand what a glory it will become in just a short while. This is your cat." Sofu D whispered his words now, as if speaking any louder would break the magic his very presence cast. "A cocoon is a thing of great magic. A few threads of protein all woven together in an instinctive pattern. The larvae don't even know how or why they do what they do when they weave the cocoon around themselves. Genetics drive them, as they do all living creatures."  
  
"Are you trying to tell me Kyou's monster is a result of his genetics?" Somehow, that sounded terribly wrong.  
  
"I am trying to tell you that the monster, is not a monster." In Sofu D's hand the tiny cocoon began to unravel. "For to long has the cat of the Souma's been restless. It, too, needs a cocoon. A place of peace to rest and grow, allowing it to maturing into it's ultimate form. Your cat is in it's larval form. It has yet to grow."  
  
Shigure wanted to interrupt, but he felt speechless. Like a child, Shigure just listened and tried to make sense of what Sofu D was saying. It seemed to make sense, but Shigure had never though of Kyou in this way before. A larval form? Kyou was a teenager, nearly an adult, but it was true that he still had much maturing to do. Kyou was often like a young child, throwing temper tantrums when he didn't get his way and running from problems instead of dealing with them. Since Tohru's arrival, Kyou had begun to grow, but he was still child-like.  
  
"A great transformation has been long denied." Sofu D whispered as the cocoon tore open and revealed a small, wet creature with faint colors decorating it. It dried far faster than Shigure believed was possible for a newly emerged butterfly and began fluttering its wings. "If your family is to survive, your cat must endure one last transformation."  
  
"Another one?" Shigure was horrified at the thought of Kyou having to suffer yet another transformation, something to make him even more of an outsider than he already was. "He's got to suffer more than the cat and his monster?"  
  
"Your cat suffers not from any of his shapes, but from the lack of his proper shape. He suffers from emotional stress put on him by a family that does not know how to accept him. He suffers because he has been taught to despise himself." Sofu D held his hand up slightly and the brightly colored butterfly took off, fluttering away until it was so far into the sky that Shigure lost sight of it. "To thrive, the butterfly needs only a short time of rest and solitude. Your cat requires the same and, once his metamorphosis is complete, he will heal your family."  
  
"I don't understand."Shigure hated the way he sounded, so helpless and stupid. He felt like the whole puzzle was on the table in front of him, but he was still missing one very important piece. "How can Kyou heal the family? Can Kyou break the curse, is that why the cat isn't included in the Zodiac?"  
  
"You know that the cat holds a power unique even to your family."  
  
Shigure went cold at that statement. The only way Sofu D could know that was if he knew about the diary and that was supposed to be a closely guarded secret. Even the rest of the Souma's didn't know about it. Did that mean all the secrecy had been for nothing? Had Sofu D and his strange offspring been watching the family the entire time?  
  
"I see the worry in your eyes." Sofu D said, unconcerned. "No, I have known nothing of your family until recently. I know what I know because I am Kami. You wouldn't understand any other explanation. Your ancestor hid your family well, concealing it from my child by diluting your blood with that of humans. It was a very clever idea and it worked very well. We had no idea where you were until a few short days ago. That was a pity. Had we been able to find you centuries ago, we might have been able to help each other."  
  
This brought a whole new spin into the situation. "You need something from us?"  
  
"From your cat, to be precise. The bracelet. My grandchild needs that bracelet, it is apart of him. Your family could have been healed long ago had we only been able to find you."  
  
Shigure remembered the words of the wolf bitch he'd run with just a short time ago, the one who'd warned him of the coming of the three Kami. "The unwanted child." He said out loud without really meaning to.  
  
"Yes," Sofu D said, though slightly grudgingly. "I suppose he could be called that. His creation was...less than ideal. His perfection was marred by careless thought."  
  
"Then the other would be the Lost Son and you would be the Father of All."  
  
"Poetic descriptions. You seem to know my family. I suppose your canines told you of our coming. No matter. As I was saying, we can help each other. The work has already begun. You cat is cleansed of human blood, now returned to it's natural larval state. Now it will begin to desire the change that will come upon it. My grandchild is determined to help, he feels the guild of what his father has done."  
  
"I didn't think a Kami would feel something so human as guilt." Shigure knew it was a cruel thing to say, but Sofu D didn't seem bothered at all.  
  
"Yet you feel guilt. Are you going to try to convince me you are human? No, my grandchild is Kami, though imperfect. His heart is to open and he feels for the unkind things his papa has done. This is not the first time my grandchild has worked to undo damage his papa had wrought, though this is the first time it has been such a grand scale. Never before has my beloved child come so close to genocide."  
  
"Genocide?" Shigure asked. "What's he trying to kill?" The destruction of an entire species was never something to wish for, but Shigure wondered why this had anything to do with his family.  
  
"Do you not understand? He has come very close to destroying your species. The Zodiac. Now, my grandchild speaks with your cat and tries to convince him to return to our home. The damage done to your family must be undone and now that it has begun, it must be completed."  
  
"Why? Can't you just leave Kyou alone?"  
  
"If we do, he will die with in days."  
  
"What!?"  
  
"Perhaps even hours. His source of power is the sun and he is unable to control how he absorbs it. Even now, his body is like a sponge, taking in more and more energy until he won't be able to hold it any longer. As an adult, he would be able to control how much he takes in and he would be able to give energy. Did you never wonder why the sun affects him so greatly."  
  
"But it's not the sun, it's the rain that affects Kyou. When it rains..."  
  
"When it rains, during daylight hours, your cat becomes moody and listless. He has no energy. At night, your cat sleeps very deeply and always wakes at sunrise. It is not the rain that makes your cat sleepy, but the lack of the sun that saps his energy. His body expects the sunlight, but can not have it. Once he has matured, your cat will be able to store the energy gained from the sunlight and use it even when there is none available."  
  
Shigure swallowed hard as the realization hit him. "So...Kyou's a battery?"  
  
"Yes. A solar battery and he is meant to be the power source for your family."  
  
"No, no." Shigure interrupted as one of the foundations of his life was questioned. "Not the cat, the head of the family gives his life energy for the family. We never understood how, but the head of the family gives his own life energy to sustain the rest of the family. We couldn't survive without him."  
  
"And where, do you suppose, does the head of your family get his power?"  
  
That single question make Shigure stop and pause. It wasn't possible...was it? There was one more question that worried Shigure. "Why are you telling me everything, now?"  
  
"Because you are necessary to the survival of your family. My grandchild heals your cat, but there is one other person in your family that needs healing, immediately. The head of your family, Akito, is dying even as we speak. If he is not brought to my home very quickly, he will die before your cat is able to help him. You must convince him to go with my grandchild."  
  
Count D-  
  
The cat was in deep despair, a grief so black it made him run from a person who offered him unconditional love and support. It wasn't an unsurprising act and for it, D was reminded of what Leon might have been like in his youth. A hot temper and so unsure of who might care about him that he pushed everyone away. Though Leon knew he was cared about by many people, most of all D and Chris, he still tried to push them away at times. It was almost as if he couldn't believe it wasn't some kind of cosmic joke and he didn't want to take the risk of being hurt when he lost the people he cared about. That was just how the poor cat was acting, especially now that he didn't understand why his body was changing so rapidly.  
  
D had to pity the cat child, Kyou. Now that D knew Chris was safe and being taken back to the Petshop, where he'd be safe, and that Leon was well on the road to recovery, thanks to the Gattolotta, he could concentrate fully on why he'd come to Japan in the first place. He would do what he could to help the Zodiac family. Of course, there was only so much he could do. It was all up to the cat, in the end.  
  
Kyou ran smack into D, knocking himself down he was running so fast. He fell with a curse hissed between his teeth.  
  
Kyou was truly a beautiful child and D felt a stirring of want, desire, to have this unique cat as a part of his collection. With orange hair and freckles, the cat looked as if he would one day grow into a lovely adult. Of course, that was now a necessity.  
  
D could see the poor child's hands shaking uncontrollably and knew that Kyou wouldn't even know why he couldn't control himself. The sun's energy was so great that the cat's immature body couldn't handle it. If all things were as they should be, the head of the Zodiac family could siphon some of the energy from the immature cat until it grew into it's true shape and was able to control how much of the sun's energy it absorbed. In this case, since the head of the Zodiac family was also polluted with human blood, he was unable to serve his function properly. This was possibly a deadly circle and D once again caught himself cursing his papa's actions. If only he'd been able to reach the cat first.  
  
When the cat, Kyou, looked up and saw D, he immediately went on the defensive. Not at all surprising considering what Papa D had done just a few short hours ago. The pain and agony had been completely unnecessary and, had D been the one to take the cat's human blood from him, he could have made sure Kyou slept through the entire ordeal. He wouldn't even have had to remember what happened.  
  
'Papa always has to do things the hard way.' D thought. He knew his papa hated humans and that, in his mind, papa D probably thought he was only hurting the human part of the cat. It wasn't a very good justification, though. After all was said and done, not considering the potential power within the cat, Kyou was a child and D hated seeing any child in pain.  
  
Kyou-  
  
The man smiled even as Kyou's body tensed. He wanted to run, but just couldn't seem to move. "What do you want?" Kyou snarled. This man was far to much like the other one, the one that had pushed Tohru out the window. For a moment, Kyou visualized Tohu's broken, twisted body in the garden under the window. He hadn't seen her body like that, though. Yuki said he didn't know where Tohru was either and that was worrying. Maybe Tohru had hit her head and she was confused. What if she'd just gotten up and walked away, into the forest, before anyone had realized what had happened to her? Tohru wasn't able to look after herself properly when she was well, what if she was hurt and just wandering around?  
  
"You are such a beautiful child." The man crooned. "Full of fire and life."  
  
The stranger's hair was shiny in the sunlight and almost purple. The whole problem was that he was to much like that other man, the one with long hair. Kyou knew it wasn't the same person, but only because of the hair and the mismatched eyes. Everything else, even their voices, were identical.  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Even so frightened and confused, you are beautiful."  
  
"Shut up!" Kyou had no idea what to do. He knew this man was dangerous, but every part of his instinct told him to go to the man. This man was with the one that hurt Yuki and Tohru. "Just...just leave me alone!" He felt so stupid! There was no way Kyou could find the words to say what he wanted to say.  
  
"I don't think that would be a good idea, little one. You feel like a thousand insects are crawling all over your flesh. You can smell everything, hear everything, see everything. A short while ago, you vomited a large quantity of blood, yet you don't really feel the loss. You have so much energy building inside of your body, but you don't know why. Your mind is racing and your heart thudding, but you can not stop either one. You feel unsteady, as if you might lose your balance at any moment. You feel the monster within you trying to escape and, what frightens you the most of all, you wish to release the monster."  
  
Kyou swallowed hard. How? How had the man known so intimately what Kyou was feeling? "No." Kyou shook his head as he started to back away again, but stopped when his feet bumped into his master's fallen body. "You're wrong! I don't want to let my monster go. Who the Hell are you, anyway?" Kyou desperately wanted answers and hoped that maybe a few would stop his world from collapsing around him.  
  
"You may call me Count D. I think..." He came foward until Kyou could see both of the man's eyes very clearly. "It is time for you to grow up. I must apologize for what my papa did to you. It was terrible and I never would have done anything like that. I can give you peace, child. What would you do for that? Just peace and rest."  
  
To just rest for a little while...it sounded very tempting. "I"m a monster. I'll hurt you." Kyou knew he shouldn't go with the strange man, there was no reason why this guy wouldn't hurt him, too.  
  
"Perhaps you will, but I doubt it." Still, the beautiful man held out a hand to Kyou and simply waited. "I can make you whole, again. Would you like that? Shall I show you what you are capable of being?"  
  
Kyou raised a hand to brush the hair away from his face, a habit he had when nervous, but noticed something. The blood around his bracelet was still fresh and wet. The blood on his hands, from his terrible crime, had dried a short while ago into dark stains, but not around the bracelet.  
  
"Ah," Count D breathed, his eyes suddenly going to the black and white bracelet. "So, there it is." Kyou instantly put his other hand over the bracelet, as if to protect it. Count D smiled at the sight. "No need to worry. I won't steal it from you, child. If I'd wished to do that, I could have done it long ago."  
  
"What's so important about it?" Kyou's curiosity got the better of him. "Do you know how it works?"  
  
"Oh, yes. It's simple really." Count D held out his hand and, much to Kyou's surprise, Kyou felt his wrist being pulled towards Count D. It was as if the bracelet was alive and trying to get to Count D. "Apart of me, it wishes to return to me. The black, dried blood even renews it's life when it gets near me."  
  
Kyou blinked and looked down at the bracelet. The black beads were indeed turning red and Kyou realized that the blood on the bracelet wasn't from the people he'd killed, but from the bracelet itself.  
  
"It's only a bracelet, it's not alive!" Kyou insisted.  
  
"Perhaps." Count D shrugged as if it didn't matter and lowered his hand. When he did, the force pulling his hand toward Count D vanished. "Will you come with me, child? Back to my home and allow me to help you?" When Kyou didn't answer for a moment, Count D added, "Shall I make your monster go away?"  
  
Kyou's eyes widened with fear. "You know about..."  
  
"I know everything about your family, Kyou. Yes, I know about your 'monster' and I know how your own family treats you for your monster."  
  
Count D's eyes were very deep and Kyou couldn't help but remember a trip he'd once taken with Kazuma to the sea. It was Kyou's tenth birthday and Kazuma had taken Kyou out sailing on a ship. Kyou had loved it, but the thing he remembered most was when he'd looked over the railing and down into the sea. The rolling dark sea was unlike anything Kyou had ever seen and he couldn't help being afraid. The sea had seemed so endless and Kyou could see dark shadows of...things...moving just under the surface of the water even though he couldn't quite see what they were. That was what Kyou thought of when he looked into Count D's purple and golden eyes. It was dark and unfathomable, but utterly transfixing.  
  
"I can change everything for you. Is that not what you always wanted?"  
  
Kyou thought back to what he really did want, what all his fighting was all about. The real reason why he kept fighting with Yuki. "I want freedom. Can you stop the head of my family from locking me up?" It was a ridiculous question. Even Kyou knew that no one could stop Akito from doing whatever he damned well pleased.  
  
"Easily. When we are finished, child, you will take orders from no one." Count D spoke with such great confidence that Kyou found himself hoping that maybe it might be true. "Will you not come with me, child?"  
  
"With you? Why would I go anywhere with you?" Kyou felt as if something were building up in his heart, but he wasn't sure what it was. His head also felt like it was filling up and his blood still felt like it was burning. Even the hairs on his arms seemed to sensitive, itching with every little breeze.  
  
"Because I can help you, child. I know what you are feeling and I know why." Count D went on, keeping his voice soft and low. "Come with me to my home. I can give you a place of peace and safety for a time. Wouldn't you like to know what is going on within yourself?"  
  
"I know what's wrong with me. You! Longer hair, but it was you. You say that guy was your dad, well why should I believe you?" Kyou shook his head and regretted it almost as soon as he'd done it. The throbbing of his building headache increased with the sharp movement. "I'm not just going off with you." Kyou gasped and squeezed his eyes shut as a shot of pain ran through his head and he could feel his heart start to speed up. "You think I'm stupid?" That was still bothering Kyou; why he'd been attacked in the first place. Why had he dreamed about his attacker and who was it in the cape who'd helped Kyou in his dream. What about the winged rabbit? Had that been real or just apart of the nightmares?  
  
To many questions and Kyou's head was hurting so badly. He had to find out what happened to Torhu and Kureno had been shot, Kyou ran off without even trying to help his cousin, Shigure had been laying on the ground and now he'd been so rude to Kazuma. So many problems and it was all because of Kyou.  
  
"I am telling the truth. I look just like the who hurt you because he is my papa." The man's smile turned slightly sad. "I can tell you that what he has done to you was necessary, though unpleasant."  
  
"Unpleasant?! I thought I was gonna die!"  
  
"No. You will not die, yet. Not if I am able to prevent it." Count D said thoughtfully. "My papa does many things I do not approve of and the treatment of you and your family is one of them."  
  
"My family?" Kyou opened his eyes as much as he could, the pain was nearly blinding from t he sunlight. "What did he do to my family?" It went against all logic to believe anything this strange man said, but with all that had happened in the past few hours logic wasn't the first thing in Kyou's mind. He couldn't imagine anyone else in his family being put through the Hell he'd had to suffer through at the hands of that long haired guy.  
  
"My papa cares nothing for your family, child. He will not lift a finger to harm or help them, it is you that is on his mind."  
  
"Why me?" With the headache subsiding, Kyou was able to focus on the conversation again.  
  
"Because he knows what you will become and, now that I have met you, I also know. You are a very valuable child."  
  
Kyou glowered. He knew the truth and didn't need this guy lying to him. "I'm nothing." He grumbled. Not only an ugly monster, Kyou as now a murderer many times over. "Why don't you just leave me alone?"  
  
"Because this is my responsibility." Count D sighed dramatically. "I had hoped to do this in a more comfortable situation, perhaps with tea and cookies, but if you're going to be so stubborn and suspicious, we'll have to do it here."  
  
"Of course I'm suspicious! You're not a trustworthy person!"  
  
Count D's eyes widened a moment before he laughed. "For a moment, you reminded me of someone I know. You both have the most fiery tempers. As for being trustworthy, I only do what I must do. You should be pleased; this time I must help you." He reach out and touched Kyou's shoulder. "I will not fail you and, once we return to my home, you will be safe. No one will hurt you in my care."  
  
Kyou actually found himself considering it, even as he pulled away from Count D's hand. He didn't want feel like this. He didn't want to feel so sick and out of control.  
  
"There is only one thing I ask of you."  
  
'I knew there would be a catch.' Kyou thought.  
  
"I must ask for your bracelet."  
  
Kyou balked, his hand going to his bracelet, protectively. "It's mine."  
  
"After all of theses years that it has been in your family, considering how emotionally dependant you are upon it, and that my papa gave it to your family, I have to agree. It is yours. However, I must warn you that it is doing nothing to benefit you."  
  
Kyou, quite rightfully, thought that Count D was only trying to get the bracelet. He needed it, even if he didn't want it. Even if it did feel heavy and itchy, as if it didn't belong on him any more. He still needed it. He needed to keep the monster under control.  
  
Count D seemed to know what Kyou was thinking. "You are quite mistaken. That bracelet is not for controlling yourself. It is your prison. A cage you keep yourself in."  
  
Kyou remembered the dream so clearly. The black and white beads of his bracelet surrounding him, a prison he couldn't get up the courage to break free of. "I don't keep myself in a cage." He protested. That was what he was fighting for, all this time. Freedom from that stupid family custom of enforced isolation.  
  
"If you take off the bracelet, then you will truly begin to grow." When Count D saw in Kyou's face that he really didn't understand, he seemed a bit disappointed. "An explanation in full then? Well, best that you know everything, I suppose." And he began to speak.  
  
Kyou listened in dumbfounded silence as Count D spoke and he couldn't believe what he was told.  
  
"My papa took the human blood from you, leaving only the pure blood of your people. That's why you feel so sickly, you are not used to the sudden blood loss or your body operating as it should. My papa intended to harness your power, your ability to absorb the energy of the sun, and use it for himself. My family is the only one, outside of your own, which can utilize your gift. It would give us some power, such as being able to feed our more exotic pets, but little beyond that. My papa wants you chained to that bracelet and in his power for a much simpler reason. I believe he simply wanted to add to his collection. The rarest of the rare, you are a beautiful addition to any collection. Aside from that you and your family has a talent that my family does not and that is rare. My family has the ability to compel any creature to do exactly as we please, we are able to force obedience. Animals love your family, however. You do not need to force your will upon them. My papa is jealous. I am afraid it really is as petty as it sounds."  
  
Kyou felt as if his brain were stuck on one little fact. "He took my blood?"  
  
"Well, it is more to the point that he forced your body to reject to reject all of the blood in your veins which was not from your original species. That is why you vomited so much. This will make you both more powerful and easier to control. You feel ill because your body has not been allowed to mature naturally, impeded by the bracelet. It was the human blood, dulling your power to the point of nonexistence, that kept you from feeling so terribly ill.  
  
"Your ancestor, the first and only cat to be forced to endure being imprisoned by the bracelet without human blood, felt the way you do now her entire life. She lived in constant misery while my papa forced her to murder when contracts with our family were broken. Fortunately, she did not live long after escaping my papa. Only when she was with my papa could she live with the pain. Once away from him, she began to unconsciously absorb energy from the sun. At that time, the head of your family was able to take small amounts from her, even though the cat did not mature. That extended her life somewhat, but as soon as the head of your family died, so did the cat. You see," Count D fixed his deep eyes on Kyou's. "If you do not have some way to release the energy building up inside of you, you will die. Your body won't be able to handle the power and there will be fatal consequences."  
  
Kyou had no reason to believe anything Count D was saying. No reason except the pain, the vomiting blood, and everything else that had happened in the passed few hours. "Maybe that's best." Kyou's voice was unusually quiet. "I'm not sure I want to live, anymore." After what he'd done, how could Kyou want to live? He was dangerous. "Maybe I should die."  
  
"Do you believe that death will absolve you of what you have done? The lives you've taken will never be replaced. Think about your motive for seeking death. Do you feel badly that you had killed or that you are proven wrong? You know that the people you killed earned their fate, you have nothing to feel guilty about. I think, perhaps, you agonize because you believe you are proved to be the monster everyone always thought you were. Taking your own life because you are afraid to face reality is such a cowardly reason." Count D's smile never faltered as he said this and if saw anything in Kyou's face, he didn't show it. "What do you think will happen to your replacement, though? A new cat will be born and the cycle will begin again. The next cat child will be subjected to the same pain you have lived through. The next cat will be ostracized and rejected. The next cat will be imprisoned by both the bracelet and the human blood. Will you put that burden on a child, knowing that you can prevent it? You alone, Kyou, can break your family's curse."  
  
Stunned, Kyou stepped away from Count D. "You don't know what you're talking about. That whole story! It must have happened hundreds of years ago, you weren't around then!" It was more than that. He's come so close to the truth, far to close. Kyou was afraid, not that he'd ever admit it. He was afraid of what everyone would say once they found out what he'd done. Tohru wouldn't want to talk to him again and Yuki would just look at him like he was slime. Kazuma, who'd always had such faith in Kyou, wouldn't trust him anymore. Kyou knew it was the truth. He was a coward and he wanted nothing more than to escape. To break the curse? Kyou couldn't do something like that where everyone else in the family in past centuries had failed. It was impossible.  
  
"I was created shortly after my papa captured the original Zodiac family. My only purpose was so that my papa would be able to create that bracelet you are wearing. It is made from my blood and bone. I know what I know because my Sofu told me. Your body will never mature, no matter how old you may get, as long as you wear that bracelet and I will never be complete without it. It is in both of our best interests that you give that bracelet up. Will you? Will you save your family?"  
  
It seemed to much, Kyou just couldn't accept that he could save his family. "This is nuts..." He muttered. The idea of being so important went against everything Kyou had ever been taught about himself.  
  
"Perhaps a compromise?" Count D offered. "I see that you are not convinced of my good intentions. Return with me to my home and take off the bracelet, assume your true self. This human guise is useful, but unnatural. Stay for a time, a short time, and see what happens. I offer you a safe haven to stay in. No one will look at you or speak to you unless you wish it and the bracelet will remain in your possession. If you wish to put it on again at any time, you are free to. If you wish to leave, you are free to."  
  
"No strings attached?"  
  
"Look at me, child. I am small and frail, am I not? Surely, as your true self, you would be able to easily overpower me should I try anything underhanded."  
  
It sounded very reasonable and Kyou really couldn't see a downside. If he died, then some other kid would have to go through everything Kyou had gone through and that wouldn't solve anything. Maybe...if it was possible...maybe Kyou should trust Count D. It couldn't hurt, really. Count D already knew about the curse, for some reason, and this way he'd be away from the people he cared about and wouldn't risk hurting them. What was the worst that would happen? Perhaps Count D would try to kill him. Would that really be so bad? At least Kyou wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore and, who knows? Maybe he could save the family, just like Count D had impossibly promised.  
  
Kyou nodded. "Alright, then." He said in a cautious voice. "Just for a little while."  
  
To be continued...  
  
Thanks to all of you who've reviewed.  
  
Demeter 1: I hope you liked Ren's death, I'd been planning it for a while. I have to admit, I do enjoy a good death. Yes, I suppose that makes me rather morbid, but she did deserve it. Poor Kyou had to see the whole thing, but just image if he hadn't been there? Poor Kureno probably would have died and I just couldn't let that happen. Right? As for Akito's 'death'...that's another part of the story I've been waiting to do for a long while.  
  
Grrl N: I hope you liked Haru and Rin's break up. I'm not really sure how it went, so I had to make it up, pretty much. I hope I got it close to the canon storyline. Kureno started out a cold, empty husk of a boy and now, thanks to Akito, he's grown into a homicidal, overprotective, single-minded man. He'll do absolutely anything for Akito. Sigh...I'm very fond of my Kureno, though I'm told he's not really like that in the manga. Pity. Anee: Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. It won't be long till the end, now.  
  
Ruby Love: This chapter probably answered your questions about what happened to Kyou. With any luck you enjoyed it, I know I did. Guilt is a wonderful thing, isn't it? It can make a character do so many interesting things.  
  
Kim C.: I tried to add in the lesser mentioned characters, like Hiro, Kisa, and Ritsu who don't get as much mention in the story, as I love them all so much. I thought that if anything could make Hiro keep his acid tongue still and keep Ritsu controlled, if only barely, it would be Akito. For the first time in his life, Ritsu found himself in a position of responsibility. There were no other adults around to take care of Akito and Ritsu HAD to control himself. Yes, Kureno is still locked into a slave mentality, but at least now he serves a better purpose. He guards the entire Junikyu by guarding Akito and that's certainly better mindless killing for the amusement of others. It might occur to Kureno that he could call child welfare, but I don't think he would do it without orders from Akito. He might tell Shigure or Hatori about the situation and ask them to call, but I don't think Kureno would do it himself unless Akito told him to. Muchacha: Thanks for writing and I'm glad you liked it. I had almost no transformations in the story, so I figured that Kyou's ought to be something spectacular. I was very pleased with it.  
  
Ayako: Thanks for taking the time to review. Sanity? Since when have the Souma's had anything to do with sanity? :)  
  
Twinfin 666: Wow! That's a long review! I'm flattered. I actually enjoy spoilers, thanks for the info about Kureno. I don't have the later volumes of FB, in fact, the last volume I have is where Kureno and Uo-chan meet. Hee, hee. That was so sweet. Anyway, I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed that Kureno's not going to be my vision of a nearly psychotic killer, but I'm sure he'll be wonderful, nonetheless. He's a Souma, after all. Hmmm...that's a lot to go on in just two manga, but I'll look forward to getting it for myself. With the Souma's, I'll take any pairing, they're all lovely together. Shigure and Akito are my favorite characters, though. Oh, I rather like Kagura. Just think of the intensity of her faith in Kyou. She knows what everyone thinks of him, the monster, she's seen his original form and she still loves him with every beat of her heart. All right, so maybe she needs to learn a little restraint, but I still like her. I'm glad to have helped get your friend into FB, it's one of the best series I've ever run across so the more fans the better. To be honest, though, Tohru does look like an alien with those eyes. A cute alien, but an alien. :)  
  
Mercedes No Inuarai: I'm honored that you think I do a good job with Akito. Of course, he's still scary, but I've always believed that behind every villain is a story. There is a reason why people do what they do and I really enjoyed inventing Akito's reasons. I wasn't sure about how Yuki and Tohru ended up in the same class, but it seemed to fit at the time. As for Tohru going home...I suppose now that she's learned what she is, she'll have to decide where she belongs. Won't she? I find Ritsu to be one of the most pitiful characters. He's dangling on the edge of suicide and no one takes him seriously. At best, it seems that he's ignore and just pushed away. I've always felt very badly for him. Kureno's devotion to Akito is a thing of beauty, isn't it? I don't know that they ever said anything was going on between Leon and D, but I was a very deep relationship, whether you believe if it was just friendship or something more.  
  
Harakiri: Wai! Thanks for the gold star! I'll stick it on my computer and keep it forever! Don't worry about it, Love the review. Hope you like this chapter, too.  
  
Fireblazie: Shigure is, in my opinion, the greatest character in the entire FB series and possibly in all of anime. I highly suggest Petshop of Horrors, even if you only browse through it at the bookstore. It's a great series with interesting characters and beautiful artwork.  
  
Cor-chan: I'll take that review as a compliment :) I'll try to inspire the same awe again.  
  
Kireina: That's wonderful! I'm so glad you were that much into Kyou's monster as well as Ren's death. It was actually difficult to write. I'd been looking forward to it for so long, I wanted it to be perfect.  
  
Kechara123: Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Leon and his vendetta against the Black Scorpion. I may also do something about poor Murakai still languishing in coma back in America. Besides, Leon's had a lot of cases, mostly involving Count D and the Petshop, where he doesn't get many good answers. In this case, though, I don't think Leon would be willing to just let it slide. Do you? 


	22. A Blessing

Dear readers, I've had a lot of requests for Hana and, since Uo already had a small role, I thought I'd throw Hana in. I don't know if she'll be around much, but I did find a small place for her. Enjoy.  
  
Chapter 22: A Blessing  
  
Shigure-  
  
"Dying? Akito's dying?" Shigure's words came out in a hushed whisper.  
  
"Yes. If you do nothing, he will die within just a few hours. I believe that even now he prepares himself for death and his mindset is not of the most stable. He is so frightened. Still, what can you do? Your family has been afflicted with the blood of humans for centuries and not once, in all that time, has anyone of your family been able to discover the cure. You've read it yourself in that diary you think you have well hidden and still, even you did not see the answer. It was right in front of your face, too. Your cat, so prevalent in the story of the original Zodiac family, is your cure.  
  
The cure was good, but the timing was terrible. Kyou could heal the head of the family, somehow, but Akito was dying. Why couldn't they have done whatever they were going to do to Kyou days ago? "What's going to happen to Kyou?"  
  
"I told you that, already. He will go through a metamorphosis and mature. After that, everything will come naturally to him and he will know what to do."  
  
"But he'll be safe?" Shigure had never considered having children himself, but he had started to feel protective of the youngsters in his care, Yuki, Tohru, and Kyou.  
  
"Absolutely safe and comfortable."  
  
Shigure's mind was swirling with a need for answers only Sofu D could give him and the overwhelming worry for his family, Akito in particular. Shigure felt guilty, but just a little, for his fear for Akito drowning out his concern for the rest of the family. Shigure knew himself very well and the one person he couldn't lie to was himself; Akito was the most important person to him.  
  
Shigure loved Akito.  
  
Not just as the head of the family, not just as the one who gave Shigure life, but...more. It was a demanding, passionate love that made Shigure's heart break every time he listened to Akito's ravings or learned that he'd hurt someone. This love was as deep and real as Hatori's love for Kana or Ayame's love for Hatori. Shigure had admitted to himself long ago that he would do anything for Akito and it was destroying him that he was helpless now, just as everyone was always helpless at the death of the head of the family.  
  
"Will you?" Sofu D spoke. "Will you truly do anything for him?"  
  
Shigure was put on his guard again, though it was against all logic. This person already knew everything about the Souma family. Was it unreasonable to assume that a Kami could read minds as well? "Yes." Shigure thought of his sickly master...no. His sick friend. Shigure had proved himself strong enough to disobey Akito when necessary and he was not willing to blindly follow anyone, so Akito was not his master. He was a friend, he was family. "I would do anything to keep him alive and healthy." He meant it.  
  
Though no one might understand his reasoning, Shigure always had a reason for everything he did and, usually, that reason involved Akito. Akito might not be happy with Shigure's actions or words, but in the end, Shigure was confident that he would bring happiness to Akito. Even Tohru, the girl Akito just couldn't understand, was apart of Shigure's grand plan to make Akito happy. Tohru made Yuki happy. If Yuki were happy, Akito would be happy. She made everyone around her stronger and that would bring strength to the Souma family. A strong, safe Souma family would make Akito happy. Really, it was the big picture that Shigure was interested in. He'd always believed that in the end...  
  
"In the end, I wanted to make him happy. I wanted to make him healthy." Shigure laughed ruefully at himself and ran a shaking hand through his hair. "I failed...again. No matter how hard I try, I just never seem able to make it all turn out right. Now, time's run out; he's dying. I guess all my plans weren't good for much, in the end."  
  
"End?" Sofu D said, amused. "Whoever said that this was the end? Your master is dying, not dead. He still has time."  
  
"Time to do what? I can't very well take him to the hospital." Shigure said, defeated. "They can't do anything for him there, anyway. It's a pity you didn't tell us about Kyou sooner. Maybe Akito would live." It just wasn't fair. 'I can't believe it! The cure is in reach, after all this time, and Akito's going to die anyway. If only...' Shigure felt his eyes starting to burn and he swallowed hard. 'If I can't save Akito, at least I know the next head will survive.' That thought should have made Shigure happier, but it didn't.  
  
Shigure hadn't cried in a long time; crying never solved anything. Shigure hadn't cried for Kana or Hatori's lost love. He hadn't cried when Ayame was in pain and thought he would lose Yuki. The closest Shigure had come to crying in years had been when he thought Tohru might leave them and that hadn't been for Tohru's sake, not really. Shigure had grown fond of Tohru and he was happy that she seemed happy with the family, but he'd wanted to cry for the people that he feared she would leave. She was the only hope of the Zodiac Souma's. Tohru had brought such light to the dark Souma family that, if she left, Shigure was afraid they would never find their way to the light again.  
  
"You weep for your master." It was a statement and said in such a way that Shigure fought even harder with himself until he choked back the threatening tears.  
  
"I'll leave you now." Shigure said, turning his back on Sofu D. "I need to go to Akito." If Shigure couldn't save him, then he would at least make sure Akito wasn't alone at the end. His only consolation about Kyou was that at least he knew the boy was safe and being taken care of. The Kami had no reason to lie, as far as Shigure could tell. Even if Sofu D were lying, there was nothing Shigure could do to help Kyou.  
  
"Yes, go to him." Sofu D's soft words were very clear in Shigure's sharp ears. "But there will come a choice to be made very soon and you must make it. Your family will follow you; you are the dog. A natural pack animal, you are concerned with the pack, the family, before all personal desires. You are a perfect guardian for your family and they all know it, instinctively. If you tell them something is so, they will believe you."  
  
"What they believe is that I'm a fool and a liar. I've worked very hard to perfect my image over the years. What's this got to do with anything?"  
  
"In a short while my grandchild will be at your family's estate and he will wish to bring your master with him, back to our home. Your master will resist and he will order your family to defend him. My grandchild is quite able to take your master against his will, and will not hesitate since he knows of your master's illness, which clouds his judgment. If you were to be there and keep your family from interfering then it would all go much easier. Convince your family not to interfere else someone becomes injured."  
  
Shigure's first impulse was to utterly refuse to help. It was the same impulse that all the cursed Souma's had which told them to absolutely obey Akito's commands and wishes. As had become his habit, Shigure fought the impulse and questioned it. "Why should I want to do that? Akito will want to be around family when he dies, I know him well enough to know that. He won't want to be with you or your grandchild."  
  
"My grandchild can prevent your master's death, or at least he is able to postpone it. My grandchild will give your master time to live until your cat is ready. This is his only chance for survival."  
  
Shigure paused at that and many thoughts began running through his head. What would he give to have Akito live a full life? If Akito lived then the family wouldn't have to worry about what would happen between Akito's death and when the next head of the family was born; they would have time to find a new heir for him if this was all true. If Sofu D couldn't deliver what he promised then they really lost very little. Akito would die one way or the other.  
  
"You'll take Akito even if I don't help you, won't you?"  
  
"Of course. Why? Do you believe you will refuse?"  
  
Shigure thought of Akito and how much he'd always wished for Akito to be able to have a happy life. That wasn't too much to ask; to be stronger, able to go for at least a few days without worrying about his health. It seemed like a simple wish.  
  
Sofu D stepped closer and Shigure was startled to find the Kami so close. His smile was almost kindly, but the rest of his face was still shrouded in the shadows of the black hood of his cape. "I sell dreams, you know. I am able to make any wish come true. Love, hope, dreams and happiness. That is my purpose and I think your family is sorely in need of all that I can sell."  
  
Shigure remembered Akira, just before he'd died. The previous head of the family had raved in madness, even when the end drew near. He'd howled furiously at demons only he could see and frothed at the mouth like...like a dog. It had been a slow, lingering death; one that took days. According to the diary, every head of the family died in unpredictably ways, so it wasn't certain that Akito would go so violently. 'I can't let Akito die like that.'  
  
When Shigure looked up at Sofu D he'd already made up his mind. It might be the wrong decision, but it was made and Shigure rarely changed his mind once it was made up. "I have conditions."  
  
"As you wish."  
  
"Akito won't go alone. That's out of the question. Kureno, his bodyguard, and Hatori, his doctor, will go. He won't go without them."  
  
Sofu D looked questioningly at Shigure, with a curious twitch to his lips. "And you? Do you not wish to go along, also?"  
  
Shigure didn't answer. "Are you coming?" He turned and started towards the estate, all that he'd learned buzzing around in his head. Shigure almost wished he had been left to live in blissful ignorance. So much was happening and so quickly, it was hard to know what the right decision was. This could all be a trap, but he would take the chance.  
  
"No," Sofu D said. "I have business, elsewhere. My grandchild will no doubt meet you at your estate."  
  
Right or wrong, what did they really have to lose? Kyou might be able to save Akito and, for that, Shigure would give his life. The only problem was that he wasn't risking his life, he was risking Akito's and the entire Souma family if this was all a deception.  
  
Elsewhere-  
  
Saki Hananjima-  
  
Hana was on high alert and she knew that Tohru was in deep distress and possibly even danger. She could feel her dear friend's denpa waves, though it was at some distance and Hana couldn't pinpoint where Tohru was. For the first time in her life, something was blocking Hana's powers.   
  
Considering the danger and trying to think where Tohru might be, Hana sat on the floor of her bedroom with her phone on the little table in front of her. She'd already tried calling Souma Shigure's house, only to get the answering machine. She knew there was no one home, though. She could feel it. Hana's bedroom was a very ordinary bedroom. The walls were plain white and the floor carpeted with a soft, tan rug. She had a bed, of course, and a small table, the same table she'd used to entertain those frivolous 'fan-club girls' who had been bothering Tohru. It shocked everyone who saw her room for the first time, as if they expected her to live in a crypt, everyone except Hana and Tohru.  
  
'My Tohru.'  
  
Hana was honest enough to admit she didn't want to share Tohru, except with Uotoni. She had finally found someone who could accept her absolutely and without hesitation and it seemed as if the whole world wanted a piece of Tohru. The fact was that Hana simply couldn't tolerate Tohru being unhappy and she wanted to do anything to make her happy. Tohru was so good that she should always be happy, even if it meant the pain of others.   
  
Those selfish, greedy girls who had placed Souma Yuki on a pedestal so high he could barely hope to escape thought nothing of making sweet Tohru's life Hell just to satisfy their own twisted sense of justice were Hana's enemies because they tried to deliberately hurt Tohru. Hana hated those girls with a passion if, for nothing else, the pain they caused Tohru. It really made no sense. Yuki had never even shown the slightest bit of interest in any of those girls who regularly threw themselves at him, yet he'd taken almost at once to Tohru who didn't have the self-esteem to see her own worth. Her modesty and gentle nature had drawn his attention where no one else had succeeded. Not that Hana was especially happy about how close Tohru was to those Souma's. Still, they made her happy and that was all that mattered.  
  
'You'd think they'd get a hint after a while and stop all this foolishness. I feel almost as badly for Yuki as I do for Tohru. What chance has he got to make any friends with people like that surrounding him.' There was also the slight mystery of the strange denpa waves Hana could feel from all of the Souma's, but their problems meant nothing when Tohru was in danger.  
  
Hana stiffened as another wave of distress ran though her and then dissipated. It was Tohru's fear, something that Hana knew well. She'd felt the fear when Tohru's mother had died and she felt the fear that rainy night at the graveyard when she and Uo had found Tohru sprawled in the mud, crying on her mother's grave. Such a heartbreaking sight, but even then Hana had known what she had to do. She'd stopped Uo from interfering and forced Tohru to stand on her own two feet. This time, Hana didn't have a clear idea of what she should do.  
  
Hana knew Tohru wasn't human; she'd known since the moment they'd met. It didn't matter; it wasn't as if Hana was exactly normal, either. Tohru looked and acted just like a human with the exception of her unequaled capacity for love. More than one person had commented on Tohru's inhuman compassion.  
  
Yet another burst of fear made Hana squeeze her eyes closed and she clenched her hands tightly around the teacup she had been drinking out of so tightly that she was surprised when it didn't break.  
  
What could Tohru be afraid of? She was the most innocent and self-effacing creature on the planet, she made no enemies besides the 'fan-club girls' and they were hardly a threat. Beyond verbal threats, they were harmless. Hana didn't know what to do.  
  
Hana loved Tohru. She loved Tohru so deeply and so completely that she'd virtually made Tohru the center of her life, she would give up anything and everything for Tohru's sake. If Tohru asked her for anything, Hana would do it. Tohru was Hana's greatest weakness, really. It was a bit ironic. If Tohru desired it, Hana would use her powers and she could do serious damage. Tohru knew and understood Hana's talent, but she'd never asked for Hana to 'do' anything. Tohru probably didn't even know she had such great power at her disposal.  
  
"Hana."  
  
"Yes, Megumi?" Hana didn't even have to turn to know her little brother was standing in the doorway. He was so like her that other people found it frightening. Not just the physical resemblance, but their nature's, too. While Hana had a talent to feel and use denpa in a way that few people could, Megumi's psychic talent lay in a different vein. The only thing that had ever frightened Hana about Megumi was that he might one day have to suffer from the fear of other people as she did. Megumi didn't seem to share the same fear and, as far as Hana knew, he hadn't had any trouble with bullies. Then again, he might not be telling her what was going on. It was hard to tell with Megumi.  
  
It was the black, also. Everyone wondered about the black. Why did Hana and Megumi always dress in black? The answer was simple and complex at the same time. The color black was powerful to psychics. It dulled the mental 'noise' around them and calmed their minds. Hana couldn't explain it well, but she knew black was the most comfortable color to wear and she made sure that she wore it often. Only at school, where she was forced to wear the dreadful uniform, was Hana truly uncomfortable. There were times that Hana felt as if she couldn't stop the emotions of other people running though her mind.  
  
Megumi walked into the room and sat next to Hana on the floor, leaning over until his little head rested on her shoulder. Hana didn't normally like touching other people, their emotions were to distracting and often painful, but Megumi was one of the few exceptions. Hana didn't mind close contact with any of her family or Uo and Tohru, but that was about it. Megumi was special, though. With him, Hana didn't have to block his emotions from her mind, he let his emotions slide into hers in a sort of gentle greeting. It was hard to explain, so Hana had never tried. The only thing she knew was that Megumi understood her better than anyone else she'd ever known, even Tohru.  
  
"You're afraid?"  
  
"For Tohru." Hana answered. It was as useless for her to lie to Megumi as it was for other people to lie to her. "She is in great distress."  
  
"Yet you don't go to her." It was a statement and ones like that reminded Hana of why everyone seemed to think Megumi was to mature for his age. He even surprised Hana, at times. "Do you want to?"  
  
"I don't think I should. I feel as if she's safe and needs to be where she is. I don't like it, though. I would like to have someone she trusts close to her." Hana had no better explanation and was glad she didn't need one. Megumi understood. "Again, I can't do anything for her." Hana leaned her head over, touching the top of Megumi's head with her own.  
  
"I think..." Megumi paused and his eyes took on a far way look. "I think you should trust Tohru. I think she's stronger than she thinks she is and that she'll be fine."  
  
Hana couldn't quite manage the smile she wanted to give her brother.  
  
"Isn't it enough?" Megumi asked. "Do you want me to do more?"  
  
It was a difficult question and Hana thought hard before she answered. Megumi had no talent with denpa, but his skills were, in many ways, more insidious. Curses were his strong point and, if he wished to, Megumi could curse anyone just by knowing their name. However, that wasn't the limit of his extraordinary skills. Hana often thought that, when he grew older, Megumi would be far more powerful than she was. No, she didn't think it. She knew it. Already, Megumi had great power pent up in his little body. Much of his power was natural, he'd been born with it, but a great deal of his power had been learned. Megumi had spent hours upon hours teaching himself how to curse and...other things.  
  
Hana told him, "No curses. We don't know who's with Tohru and we certainly don't want to curse her."  
  
Megumi nodded. "Agreed. Then something else?"  
  
"What else?" Megumi was almost as ruthless as Hana was, but not quite. He would go a long way for someone he thought of as a friend and Megumi liked Tohru very much. "Farsight?" Perhaps Megumi would be able to see Tohru where Hana couldn't feel her.  
  
Megumi shook his head slowly. "I don't think that would work in this case. If you can't pinpoint her, then I wouldn't be able to see her. Perhaps something more...elementary. Curses will not work. Perhaps a blessing will." Megumi didn't wait for Hana's approval before he closed his eyes and Hana felt him relax against her. Knowing that this was the way of it, Hana put her arm around Megumi to support him, but didn't speak or interfere. Megumi's techniques were often dangerous, even to himself, and therefore not done without good reason.  
  
It seemed, for a while, as if nothing was happening. Megumi's skin grew cold against Hana's and his eyelids began to flicker erratically. He woke himself from the trance very quickly though, after only a few seconds. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I can't reach Tohru. I can feel her, but she's somewhere that I can't reach her. I can't give her a blessing."  
  
If Hana could take the blessing herself, she would ask Megumi to give it to her, but they had long ago learned that they couldn't affect each other with their powers. Hana was thinking on the problem when, just by coincidence, she looked out her bedroom window. She happened to see Souma Yuki striding quickly by. He looked like a man on a mission, with his purposeful steps and his sharp eyes darting this way and that. "Will you put the blessing on someone else? Someone who could help Tohru?"  
  
"Yes, but I need a name."  
  
"Souma Yuki."  
  
Again, Megumi closed his eyes and settled himself into Hana's side. His skin once again grew cold and his eyelids began to flicker. This time, the process took longer, but not all that much longer. Megumi's eyes opened, but he didn't come out of his trance at once as he had before. His eyes saw what Hana couldn't and she wondered what, precisely, Megumi saw when he went into this state. At last, Megumi took a deep, shuttering breath and his eyes focused on Hana.  
  
"It's done." Megumi told her, sounding exhausted. "Souma Yuki has been blessed. No matter what his intentions, he will succeed. Are you certain he IS looking for Tohru?"  
  
"Yes." Hana remembered the determined look on Yuki's face as he'd passing unknowingly by her window. "If anyone will find Tohru, he will. I know it."  
  
Inside the petshop-  
  
Kyou-  
  
Count D led Kyou down the narrow side street without a word. It was just as well, Kyou didn't think he'd have anything to say if Count D did try to say anything. It was all too hard to cope with. Unbelievable. Ridiculous. Stupid, really. Kyou couldn't save the Souma family. He was just the cat.  
  
The car was one of the nicer ones Kyou had seen. A shining black car that must have been nearly one hundred years old. It looked as if it might be one of the first cars to roll off the assembly lines and there was a driver waiting, holding the door open for Count D. It really wasn't anything new to Kyou. He'd seen chauffeurs before and fancy cars like this one were nothing unusual in the Souma family. Hatori had one of those high-priced cars, a Mercedes or something like that.  
  
The chauffeur was dressed like someone out of a movie, from his smart black suit to the neatly combed hair. Even his shoes were polished enough to give a reflection.  
  
"Did you get what you wanted, Count?" The chauffeur asked in a voice that sounded as if he wanted to laugh. His eyes went to Kyou and Kyou shivered at when he felt the eyes examining him.  
  
"What are you staring at?!" Kyou demanded gruffly. He really wasn't in the mood to take anything from anyone.  
  
"Now, now, there is no need for such temper." Count D said soothing. "Michael is only curious, I am afraid. It is not one of his finer qualities, but just looking at you will not hurt. As for your question, Michael, I did find what I wanted. Michael, this is Kyou. He will be staying with us for a while." Count D slid into the back seat of the Rolls Royce and Michael, the driver, held the door for Kyou. He waited expectantly until Kyou climbed in after Count D and settled himself uncomfortably onto to the seat next to Count D, but as far from the man as he could get. Kyou had agreed to this bizarre experiment, but that didn't mean he was entirely comfortable with it.  
  
"Don't look so uptight." Michael murmured, smiling at Kyou before he closed the car's door. "You'll be fine."  
  
Once alone with Count D, Kyou was starting to have second thoughts about all of this. The car's interior was absolutely back. The tinted windows kept out much of the outside light, but, for once, Kyou didn't mind the absence of light. The blood boiling in his veins seemed to settle and his heart calmed. In fact, Kyou began to feel quite sleepy.  
  
"Well?" Kyou asked. He sat in the corner of the seat with his back to the door so he could see Count D fully. "You made a lot of claims out there. Are you gonna tell me what's really going on or not?" It was a defense mechanism, Shigure had once told Kyou, to become angry with whomever was in range when he was frightened or confused. At the time, Kyou had sworn until he was blue in the face at Shigure for saying something so stupid, but now he just didn't care. It had always worked before so why not use it now.  
  
"If you like." The man remained unruffled and completely at ease as he sat with his hand on his knees. "I have told you much of the story already. As the cat of your family, it is your duty to provide power for the head of your family who, in turn, gives power to the rest of your family. That is how your family is meant to work. Sadly, it has not worked so well in the past years. I am going to take you to my home where you may rest and, I believe you will grow."  
  
"That's it?" Not a word of it made any sense to Kyou.  
  
"That is it." Count D continued to smile. "Simple, is it not? A few days of rest and you will see the world in a different light."  
  
"I wish things were different now." Kyou muttered. His whole body still felt off and he was having serious doubts about coming with this guy. Not that it mattered, really. Who would really care if anything happened to him? Well...Kagura and Tohru would cry. Yuki might get upset, he was weird, getting upset by the strangest things. Shigure wouldn't show it if he was upset, but he might. The more Kyou thought about it, the more he thought that maybe people WOULD care. Maybe this wasn't a good idea.  
  
"What the Hell is this place?" Kyou asked, following Count D down the stairway. It put his teeth on edge, this whole place. A tiny little place in a back alley, the Count's house was almost invisible unless one knew where to look for it. Kyou could smell a sickly sweet smell filtering up from whatever room was beyond the door at the bottom of the stairs and he wrinkled his nose. "That smell..." Kyou didn't know if he'd be able to stand living here for even a few days if he was going to have to put up with that smell.  
  
"You will become used to it." Count D assured Kyou. "If you do not, I will find you a room where the smell of the incense does not intrude." At that, Count D had reached the bottom of the stairs and put his pale hand on the door as he waited for Kyou to catch up with him. "This is my petshop, and all the creatures within are precious to me. I must ask you to keep your temper in check and restrain yourself from violence unless you are physically threatened. That will not happen, though." He smiled. "Feel welcome in my home, Kyou." The smell was cloying and choking when he swung the door open and ushered Kyou inside.  
  
It was like nothing Kyou had ever seen before. The petshop was well lit in places, but the lights only served to make the shadows in the corners look darker. Kyou felt like hundreds of eyes were watching him when he stepped in and he didn't like it.  
  
Count D allowed Kyou a few minutes to explore the outer room, carefully taking in everything he saw. The room was opulent, but modest. It didn't look like much until one looked closely at the quality of the furnishings and even Kyou could tell that every single thing, down to the rug and teacups on the coffee table were expensive.  
  
"I would advise that you keep out of this front room," Count D said when Kyou began to poke around near the bird cages hanging from the ceiling. "This is where many customers wait for service and I think you would not like them seeing you as you truly are. It is your choice, however."  
  
"So, is this it? What's back there?" Kyou's eyes went to the large doors that obviously led to a back room.  
  
"That is where you will live. I have many people living here, I'm sure you will get to know them all before you leave us and perhaps even make a friend or two."  
  
"I might not even stay out the day." Kyou didn't like the assumption that he'd be staying any amount of time. Count D had promised that Kyou could leave any time he wanted to, with his bracelet, and Kyou intended to hold the Count to that promise.  
  
"That is your choice. Will you follow me?" Count D went to the large doors and pushed them open, revealing a corridor behind.   
  
The corridor wasn't nearly so well lit as the front room and there were even more shadows from the dimmer light. Along the corridor, Kyou could see small windows and large doors, none of which he could actually see into. Every now and again, Kyou would pause when he thought he could see someone looking out through the window at him. He would catch a glimpse of movement or the shine of eyes looking out at him. Whenever he tried to get a closer look, though, whatever he thought he saw would vanish.  
  
"Who else is living here?" Kyou asked. His voice almost seemed to echo down the long corridor. The Count, holding a lantern, turned another corner and Kyou hurried his pace a bit to catch up before the darkness would engulf him. He was very sure that he wasn't going to like this place; too much darkness.  
  
"Many people. Perhaps you will meet a few of them." At that moment, from the opposite direction, Kyou sat a small, sleek looking white fox with a little bird flying just above and behind it. "Ten-chan," Count D smiled at the fox and bent over to pet its head. The white fox grinned and licked at Count D's wrist. "I see you've found us a new pet, and how lovely she is." He looked at the little bird as he said this, but the bird's reaction was the strangest thing of all. It flew right up to Kyou and began to circle frantically around him, singing excitedly.  
  
Kyou flinched away from the bird, trying not to let it hit him, but it seemed very insistent to get close to him. "What's this thing's problem?"  
  
"She is happy to see you. Perhaps she likes you." Count D said, unconcerned. "Shall we continue? We are nearly there. Ten-chan will take care of the little one." He gestured to the white fox with eyes that looked as if it were laughing at Kyou.  
  
"A fox taking care of a bird? Oh, yeah. That sounds like REAL good judgment." Kyou scoffed.  
  
"I thought so myself." Count D replied, completely seriously before he started walking again and Kyou followed. The bracelet was irritating his wrist again and Kyou forgot about the little bird in moments when he began to think about what would happen. He really didn't know except that the Count said it was going to make everything better and it sounded very permanent. Most of all, whatever was going to happen meant that Kyou wouldn't be imprisoned and Kyou would risk anything for his freedom.  
  
Tohru-  
  
Tohru's hope vanished when Kyou swatted at her like she was nothing more than an annoying insect. 'Thing?' Tohru thought, devastated. 'Kyou called me a thing. It was like he didn't know me.' Tohru slumped to the floor. How could Kyou not see her? She was right in front of her? Maybe he was mad at her for just leaving when he needed her. She hadn't been able to do anything to help him and she'd passed out right after falling out the window, so maybe Kyou thought she'd run away from him and didn't want to help.  
  
"You worry too much, lil' miss." Ten-chan told him, patting her back. "Your friend just can't see you. I'm not sure what's going on, but the Count will take care of him." Ten-chan looked to where Kyou and Count D were disappearing into the shadows of the far end of the corridor. "The boss wouldn't bring someone here without a reason, he's very clever, you know." Ten-chan was sitting with his legs crossed on the floor and his head tilted slightly to the side while he looked at her. "Do you understand that you aren't human, now?"  
  
Tohru shook her head. "That can't be. It really can't be. I know my mom and I've always seen pictures of my dad. I've always been human, I can't have just changed." Tohru wanted to add that the others changed shape when she hugged them. That was proof, right? They didn't change if they hugged an animal of the opposite sex so Tohru must be human.  
  
"Why not? Besides, I get the feeling that the boss has all your answers and he'll tell you when he's got the time. Right now, he's very busy."  
  
Tohru sniffed and rubbed her eyes, trying very hard not to cry. She just didn't want to accept what was going on, even if the evidence was against her. "Doing what?" Tohru asked, hoping to change the subject. She didn't want to think about the bird's reflection or everything that Ten-chan had been telling her. She didn't want to think about her whole life being one great lie.  
  
"I don't know all the details, but it's pretty important. We came all this way, after all and followed that human the boss likes so much. I think it has something to do with a family the boss has an interest in. They aren't human, either, your little friend, I think, is one of them."  
  
Tohru stopped sniffing and her brow creased with a frown. "Friend? You mean Kyou?"  
  
"I guess so. I don't really know, but I do know he wasn't human. Did you think he was?"  
  
"Well..." Tohru hesitated about what she should say. She'd promised not to say anything to anyone about the curse, but Ten-chan seemed to know so much already and she needed to trust someone. Tohru had the feeling that she wouldn't be able to get out of this place no matter how hard she tried. "Please, you've been very kind to me, Ten-chan, and I am grateful, but I'd really like to leave now." If she could just find Shigure or Yuki...  
  
"I told you, it'll be better for you if you stay here and talk to the boss. You just stay with me and I'll look out for you. We'll go find somewhere nice to wait till the boss is ready to talk to you. Do you like the sea? I'll bet you'd like Phillipe. Hey, where are you going?"  
  
Tohru was in no mood to just wait around and she'd started down the corridor after Kyou and the Count. "I have to see if Kyou's all right. He was in so much pain before and I want to know why he's here. I have to try to talk to him again."  
  
"It's no good." Ten-chan called after her, warningly. "He won't understand. He thinks you're a nightingale, he can't see you."  
  
"I have to try." After all Kyou had done for her since they'd met, it was the least Tohru could do. Maybe she wasn't human, but she still owed Kyou so much. He was always kind to her and she had to find out if he was hurt. If Kyou were still hurt then she'd have to do her best to help him, even if he couldn't see her.  
  
Tohru was sorry that she'd left Ten-chan behind almost at once.  
  
The halls of the petshop had become dark and filled with menace she hadn't noticed when she'd been with Ten-chan. Tohru was becoming more and more frightened and she hugged herself as she walked down the halls. 'Kyou, where are you?' She wondered. After a while with no sign of Kyou, Tohru decided that she would have to try the doors she kept passing. She really didn't want to, she heard the strangest noises coming from behind the doors. She didn't have much choice, though, and began looking for a door that wasn't quite as menacing as the rest of them. Eventually, Tohru found a door with no sound at all coming from the other side.  
  
"H-hello?" Tohru called hesitantly as she put her hand on the door. "Is anyone there?" With no answer, Tohru slid the door open and peered inside. It was completely dark but for the dim light Tohru had let in by opening the door. "I'm looking for a boy, is he here? Is Kyou..."  
  
"What a pretty treat." The voice made Tohru jump as she'd just started to think that the room was empty and her heart lurched.  
  
"But perhaps not for us." Another voice in the darkness remarked.  
  
"Why else would it be here if the Count had not given it to us?"  
  
Tohru's hand hadn't left the door and she wanted very badly to be out of the room, away from those cold voices. Tohru had the terrible feeling that people were staring at her. She took a step backwards, but no more. A hand slipped out of the darkness and seized her wrist. Tohru didn't have time to cry out before more hands joined the first and she was pulled into the darkness, leaving the safety of the doorway behind her. The door closed behind Tohru and she was left in complete darkness.  
  
"Yes," A voice, so close to Tohru's ear that she could feel the speaker's breath, whispered. "So tasty it will be. I was just starting to get hungry."   
  
Tohru screamed when someone, something, licked her cheek.  
  
Kyou-  
  
"Ah, here we are." Count D stopped at a door that was exactly like the dozens they'd already passed and Kyou wondered if he'd be able to find his way out again. This whole place was like a maze and the smell of the incense was messing up Kyou's sense of smell. Instead of being able to smell every little thing as clearly as if it were right in front of him, Kyou found that he could smell nothing but the incense. It was a bit of a relief in a way. "This will be your room while you are here. I think this will be most comfortable."  
  
The room wasn't a room.  
  
"What kind of shit is this?" Kyou demanded when Count D opened the door. They were in the middle of a forest, a beautiful forest with trees that soared into the sky and the wonderful smell of pine trees Kyou had always associated with the mountains. "Where the Hell are we?" In the distance, Kyou could hear the rush of water and he knew it was the river he and Kazuma had fished in whenever they came up here.  
  
"Your language leaves much to be desired." Count D remarked coolly. "We are still in my petshop, this is merely one aspect of it. I am certain that you will find yourself comfortable here. There is no one else in here but you, no one to interrupt your peace. There," Count D pointed with one of his long fingernails and Kyou followed the finger to see something impossible.  
  
"The cabin." It was Kazuma's cabin, exactly. Right down to the rain barrel and the half-used stack of firewood piled outside the door, it was an exact copy of Kazuma's cabin. "How did you know?" Kyou was actually starting to get a little frightened. There was no way this guy could know about Kazuma's cabin, no possible way and yet he did. No one had seen that cabin in decades except for Kyou and Kazuma and Kazuma wouldn't have brought a stranger up there.  
  
"Know what?" Count D asked with an air of saintly innocence. "I simply thought that a mountain retreat might suit you well. Do you like it?"  
  
Like it? Kyou nodded slowly, taking it all in. It was almost as if Count D had read his mind, but that was impossible. Right? "So," Kyou began, ready to change the subject away from the puzzle he didn't understand. "What do I do now?"  
  
"Now? You rest. This is a time of peace for you and nothing will disturb you. The only thing you must do is to remove your bracelet. So long as you wear that, your time here is wasted."  
  
Kyou's hand went to his bracelet, but he didn't take it off. "Why don't you just take it? You seem to want it very badly, so why don't you take it?" From what Kyou had seen of Count D, he was starting to think that if Count D really wanted the bracelet, nothing Kyou could do would stop him. Count D was definitely not human and so Kyou had no way of knowing what he was capable of.  
  
"No." Count D's smile was indecipherable. "That, I will not do. As I said before, I am trying to undo the damage done by my papa. Taking your bracelet by force will only deepen the damage. I will not touch it until you are able to freely give it to me and no longer need it."  
  
"I still don't see what you think is gonna happen." Kyou kept rubbing his palm over the comforting hardness of the beads. "Nothing's gonna change and I'm always gonna need the bracelet."  
  
"Perhaps. Perhaps not. You won't know unless you try. Put your bracelet somewhere safe and we shall see what happens at the end of the next two weeks."  
  
"Two weeks?" Kyou knew that if anything were going to happen, which it wasn't, then it would take longer than two weeks.  
  
"I believe so. Two weeks seems about the right amount of time. Food will be delivered to you as often as you need it." Count D looked up and then over his shoulder. "If you will excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. If you should need anything, feel free to leave this room and find someone. All residents know you are under my care and protection, they will be able to help you or guide you to me. I doubt you will need to do that, though." At that, he turned with a swish of his ornate, bright robes and glided out of the room. Rather, Count D went to the set of doors that seemed to be standing in the middle of the familiar forest and walked through, closing them behind him.  
  
Kyou was left alone with his hand still on his bracelet. It really was his choice. With a great deal of trepidation and a deep breath, Kyou pulled his bracelet off and braced himself for the pain.  
  
The agonizing transformation overtook Kyou and he became the monster he so hated. For the first time in his life, Kyou was going to spend more than a few minutes as this dreaded monster and he was going to do it deliberately. Two weeks.  
  
"I must be crazy."  
  
Crazy or not, Kyou had very little to do once Count D had left him alone. He was more than a little uncomfortable in his original body, but he was determined to go through with it. Kyou let the bracelet fall to the grass and he tried to forget it for a while. Eventually, in the peace and quiet of the afternoon, Kyou ended up falling asleep. He couldn't sleep in the cabin, though. His body was now to large to even fit though the door and if he tried to lay on the bed, he'd likely break it. He ended up sleeping on the grass, staring up at the passing clouds. This was all impossible. This could NOT be all in a petshop. Yet, it was.  
  
When Kyou finally fell asleep he dreamed as he never had before and he wondered, later, if it was because he had slept as the monster. He'd never fallen asleep in his original form before. Kyou dreamed of fire and heat and the comfort of loved ones all nestled in close to him. He dreamed of being happy and content and in his dreams he saw the ones he loved the most. Kyou saw Tohru and Yuki and Kazuma. The three most important people in his life and he saw them happy. They were smiling at him, proud of him.  
  
Kyou didn't want to wake up. Reality seemed so harsh and cold, so far away, and that was just where Kyou wanted to keep it. Far away.  
  
Outside the Petshop-  
  
Yuki-  
  
Yuki had been searching for hours, but there was no sign of Kyou and it was starting to worry him more than irritate him. Yuki had begun his search, after speaking to Kazuma, worried for Kyou's health and angry at Kyou's behavior. Everyone knew that Kazuma had done so much for Kyou and Kyou had always acted grateful. There was no reason why Kyou would have hurt Kazuma and Yuki was certain that Kyou was still feeling unwell from the attack. That was the only logical reason why Kyou would hurt Kazuma, but it still made Yuki angry. Kyou should have been sensible and just stayed with Yuki or gone back to the estate to find Hatori. That was logical, sensible. 'Not that he's ever logical or sensible! He'll get himself killed and I STILL haven't the faintest idea where to look for Tohru!'  
  
Yuki had seen the car, the shining black car that looked like an antique, and he'd seen Kyou getting into the car with the same man, or apparently the same man, that had attacked them. 'Stupid! How can he be so stupid! He knows that guy's dangerous and he just goes off with him? He wasn't even trying to get away.' At least Yuki knew that Kyou was still alive, or he had been at any rate.  
  
As fast as Yuki could run, even he couldn't catch up with the car once it had started moving and he fell behind quickly until the car vanished out of sight. Even as Yuki scoured the streets for any sign of Kyou, his promise to Kazuma echoed in his mind. He'd promised to bring Kyou home. 'And Tohru. How am I going to find Tohru? There wasn't any trace of her and Shigure said he didn't see anything. She can't have just disappeared.' Yuki didn't know if he'd be able to survive without her and the thought that Tohru might have died alone, in pain and frightened, tore at Yuki as much as the thought of sick and injured Kyou in the hands of that psychopath who'd hurt him in the first place.  
  
All of a sudden Yuki saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and he stopped to look. It was the car he'd seen Kyou getting into, the big, black, shiny car. Strangely, the car that looked as if it were worth a small fortune was parked in an alley and Yuki couldn't think of a logical reason why it would be there. The alley was completely empty, barely big enough for the car, and there was only one door on the right side of the alley.  
  
Slowly, cautious of any traps, Yuki approached the car. He was absolutely certain that this was the car he'd seen Kyou get into and Yuki's irritation at Kyou was starting to fade into fear. This had all the hallmarks of a very bad murder/mystery and Yuki didn't like to think what might have happened or what he might find in the car. What if that man had finished the job he'd set out to do and he'd killed Kyou, just abandoning the car?  
  
"Such a black face."  
  
Yuki's attention was ripped away from the car when he heard the voice and he saw a well-dressed man standing near the car. He was slick and polished, not the sort of person Yuki would expect to see in a filthy alley. Yuki didn't reply at first, he was trying to figure out what made this man seem so familiar. He certainly didn't feel like a threat of any kind.  
  
"I'm looking for someone." Yuki started. "An orange haired boy about my age. He's sick and I need to get him home."  
  
The man thought but then shook his head. "Sorry, I haven't seen any sick kids around. I'm Michael. I must say that I'm surprised you found your way here. He said it was nearly impossible to find this place. You must be blessed."  
  
Yuki was careful to keep a safe distance from the man, but he couldn't just leave. Michael sounded very much as if he were lying or at least hiding the truth. "Are you sure you haven't seen anyone?"  
  
Michael was smiling and, if it had been from any other strange man, Yuki might have been worried. Michael, though, felt very familiar. Yuki was sure that they'd met before. "Oh, I'm sure. I haven't seen any sick boys, Yuki."  
  
Yuki's eyes narrowed and his whole body tensed, ready to either fight or run. He hadn't told Michael his name. "You know me?"  
  
"I've known you for a very long time. I'm sorry I had to leave for a while, but someone new is in the city and needed some help." Michael stepped away from the car and towards Yuki, completely at ease with the situation. Yuki began to step backwards, ready to run, when Michael stopped and looked a bit sad. "Oh. Yes. I'm sorry. I forgot myself. Forgive me." He gave a very proper bow before he went back to the car and hoisted himself up to sit on the trunk.  
  
"Forgot what?" Yuki asked, trying to force himself to relax. "I've never met you before."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Of course I am." It was a lie, Yuki still had the nagging feeling that he'd met Michael before, but Yuki wasn't about to tell Michael anything that might help him confuse Yuki anymore. Yuki kept shifting his eyes from side to side, trying to figure out what the trick was. Perhaps Kyou had said something and they were using the information to confuse Yuki. "You're lying to me. Where's Kyou?"  
  
"I can't say. I'm very sorry if you're in any distress, Yuki. I never wanted that. Trust me, though, this is all for the best." Michael turned his face away from Yuki and stared intensely at the unmarked door Yuki was nearly standing in front of. "You'll find the answer soon."  
  
Yuki scowled and looked at the door. Clearly a clue, but would it really be wise to knowingly walk into such an obvious trap? "What is this all about?"  
  
Michael smiled winsomely. "I want to make you happy."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Michael opened his mouth, but stopped short and said nothing. He just looked at the door again and Yuki tried to decide what he should do. This was either a blessing or a curse and he had to take a chance, one way or the other.  
  
Yuki reached out and turned the doorknob.  
  
At the hospital-  
  
Leon-  
  
The first thing Leon saw when he woke was the bright lights and he had the fleeting fear that maybe he was dead. He'd heard lots of stories about people who saw a bright light on the verge of death, but he'd never expected them to be quite so bright.  
  
"Leon, you're awake!" Unless Jill was dead, too, Leon was very much alive. "Come on, look at me." Jill urged until Leon did as she asked and turned his head to look at her. Jill smiled in relief. "Oh, thank God. You were really scaring me, Leon." Jill looked as if she'd been through Hell. Her hair was frizzy, as it tended to do when she worried too much, and she had black circles under her eyes. Her hand, with which she was holding Leon's hand, was trembling and that made Leon worry all the more. Of all the people Leon knew, besides D, Jill was the most unshakable. He'd never seen anything shake Jill up so badly and it made him very nervous.  
  
"You look like shit, Jill." Leon muttered. His throat was sore and he felt very weak, but there was a pleasant, lingering scent of a Gattolotto. Leon recognized the scent at once and he shifted his eyes to look around, but he couldn't see a thing other than a fancied up hospital room.  
  
For once, Jill didn't rebuke Leon or scold him, but she did look ready to cry and gripped his hand tighter.  
  
"Awww, come on, Jill. I didn't mean it. You know I don't mean it." He hated seeing women cry and Jill more than any other woman.  
  
"Shut it, Leon." Jill leaned down and put her arms around Leon as much as she could. She pressed her cheek against his. "I was so worried, you idiot." She didn't say anything else, but she didn't have to.  
  
Leon closed his eyes and tried to hug Jill back, but couldn't quite manage it with all the wires and tubes attached to him and ended up just patting her back. "Jill?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Jill pulled back just enough so she could look Leon in the face. "What are you babbling about? You didn't do anything wrong unless you're thinking about how you snuck off when my back was turned. If I was around, I could have helped you, ya know."  
  
Leon knew he'd done more wrong than that. "I don't want you to get hurt. I don't have much, Jill, but I want to protect the people I care about and you're one of them. I had a dream that you died because of me. I don't want that to happen."  
  
"I'm not going to die, Leon." Jill frowned at him, but touched his cheek fondly. "I know you're a bit of a pig, but you know I'm pretty well able to take care of myself. You didn't drag me into this, I pushed my way in. I know what I'm getting into." Then she shook her head. "You've had a lot of people worried. The Count was here earlier, but he left before I could see him. He left an incense burner, so you be nice when you see him again. I think he brought you a plant, too, but it's dead now." Jill's gentle face turned slightly hard. "He was very thoughtful, so you should be grateful when he comes to see you again."  
  
Leon looked and saw a brown, dead plant and knew that must have been what Jill was talking about. Somehow, though it looked very little like the plant D had once given him, Leon knew it was a Gattolotto. Maybe it was a coincidence that D kept giving Leon a Gattolotto and when he got seriously hurt he would see the blooming Gattolotto in his dreams. Maybe it was coincidence...maybe not.  
  
"Leon? Did you hear me?" Jill gave his hand a slight shake. "Ayame was visiting, too, but there was some kind of family emergency, I think. He had to go back to the family's estate."  
  
"Estate?" Leon knew there was something he should be remembering. He'd gone to the estate after talking to Ayame's kid brother and...Leon's memory faded away. "I was there."  
  
"No shit." Jill said. "Ayame told me everything. You were shot, don't you remember? Did they tell you what happened?" Jill got a horrified look in her eyes.  
  
"What?" Leon asked with a growing sense of dread. He tired desperately to remember what had happened. He'd met that skinny kid yelling at the Souma estate, Akito. He was going to take that Akito kid to find someone, a doctor or something. Then he'd seen Chris and a couple of other kids walking down the sidewalk towards them. There was a white car and a woman with a gun. "What happened?"  
  
"That woman who shot you...she...she took Chris."  
  
Leon felt himself go very cold and then it felt as if his brain caught on fire. "WHAT?!!" Leon sat bolt upright, his weariness and weakness forgotten. His head spun with the sudden movement and he felt as if he might throw up, but got a hold of himself quickly. "What do you mean she took him?! Took him where? Who took him?!"  
  
"I mean she took him." Jill flinched back a little from Leon's fury, but she didn't back down. "Look, I've already called the police and they're searching the whole city. That boy you saved is Souma Akito, the head of the Souma family, and they're very powerful in Japan. Akito must have contacts, he's called some high up people in the government and they've got everyone out looking. Police, detectives, military, private investigators, everyone. Honest, Leon, they'll find Chris real soon."  
  
"Real soon? Is that all you can say? Christ! I've got to find him." After pulling off the wires and other stuff that had been attached to him, Leon pushed himself up off the bed and began searching the room, shoving his way passed Jill with only a minimum of difficulty. "Where the Hell's my clothes? I gotta get outta here. Get me a phone, I need to talk to D. Does he know? Did anyone bother to tell him or is he...oh, crap, is he out looking by himself? That idiot will get himself killed. Shit! Crap! Damn it!" Leon shouted, making his throat burn.  
  
That was the last thing Leon needed. Not only to worry about where Chris was and even if he was still alive, but also to worry about D. If D was out looking for Chris, something he'd be foolish enough to do, he might run into the Black Scorpion. What if it was the Black Scorpion that took Chris?  
  
"Leon, calm down!" Jill grabbed his arm and tried to look him in the face, but Leon was in no mood to listen and shook her off. As strong and stubborn as Jill was, Leon was physically about twice her size and made out of solid muscles. "Leon, there's nothing more you can do, you have to rest. I spoke to Ayame on the phone, he said that woman was a criminal in the Souma family and they've already sent someone out to find her. He's in a pretty bad way, I think someone in the family's dying. Maybe that kid you were trying to help."  
  
"I'm not going to lay around in bed while Chris is out there somewhere. Christ, what if..." If, somehow, the Black Scorpion had gotten wind that someone was looking for them, it would be easy enough to find out that Chris was Leon's little brother. It might be some kind of ransom to get Leon away from their trail or just a weird kind of warning. Then again, Leon had been careful to keep his mouth shut about why he was in Japan, so maybe this was their regular way of getting children. Maybe it was just coincidence that Chris had been taken. Chris might end up just like Murakai. "I'm not gonna let it happen. I'll find him if I have to rip Japan apart!"  
  
Leon left the hospital with very little protesting from Jill. He briefly saw Jill's new girlfriend, Mine, in the waiting room when he stormed out, but barely looked at her. Jill paused a moment to say something to Mine, kissed her on the cheek, and hurried after Leon.  
  
"She's taking care of the paper work." Jill informed him.  
  
"Thanks." It was a cold reply and Leon would apologize later. So much to think about. Chris and D. Ayame and that kid, Akito, and the Black Scorpion just out of Leon's reach.  
  
Leon and Jill walked through the city streets, speaking very little. Jill must have been curious, Hell, Leon was curious, about how Leon could be walking around so painlessly when he'd been shot just a short time ago. There were more important things to think about, though. Chris, he had to get Chris.  
  
The sun was starting to set and Leon took a quick look at his watch. It had been a couple of hours since Chris had been taken and the longer he was gone the more danger he'd be in. Maybe D could pull off another miracle and he would know where Chris was being held.  
  
Just as Leon and Jill were nearing the petshop, Leon's stride slowed to a stop. "What the Hell?" He said, staring.  
  
On the other side of the street there was a parade of children all being led by tall, narrow man with short blonde hair. The children were all dressed alike in baggy grey trousers and shirts. The children ranged in age from very young up to a teenage boy who brought up the rear of the parade. Each child wore a terribly solemn expression, not laughing or speaking as they walked behind the young man who carried yet another child. This one seemed to be asleep or unconscious, but it didn't move a muscle as it was being carried. It was the teenager at the end of the line who had caught Leon's full attention, though. He was bare-chested and Leon could see, very clearly, a tattooed black scorpion on his chest.  
  
Leon's eyes widened as he was flooded with so many emotions at once. Hope that he'd found what he was searching for and fear for the children he was staring at. Hatred for whoever had done this to them. Joy that Chris wasn't one of the children in the line and disappointment that Chris wasn't in the line of children. At least then he'd know where Chris was. Leon didn't even have time to take one step towards the children before Jill suddenly grabbed his arm in a vice-like grip.  
  
"Look!" Jill cried, pointing just up the sidewalk.  
  
Leon broke out into a wide grin when he saw what he saw. "Chris!" He called, starting to run even before he'd spoken.  
  
Chris was riding on the back of D's little monster, Tet-chan. The ugly, evil-tempered creature had never looked so beautiful to Leon as he did just then when he was carrying Chris safely home. Leon wondered, briefly, how Tet-chan had found Chris and what he'd done to the people who'd had Chris. Leon didn't think of it long, all that mattered was the Chris was safe.  
  
Chris looked at when he'd heard Leon call his name and he nearly fell off Tet-chan's back in an effort to get down and run to Leon. He was, Leon noted, wearing the same grey clothes as the children he'd seen across the street, but he looked whole and healthy, if a little pale.  
  
Leon! Chris cried, throwing his arms around Leon when Leon fell down next to him and Leon thanked any and all gods that might be listening for his brother's safe return. All he could do was hold Chris for the longest time, just hold him and look at him and wonder at how lucky they were.  
  
Over Chris' shoulder, Leon's eyes met Tet-chan's and there was a fleeting moment of understanding. He saw it in Tet-chan's eyes. No one and nothing would ever hurt Chris so long as Tet-chan was on duty. Tet-chan wasn't a savage, dumb beast, as Leon had so often called him. Tet-chan was magnificent, if only for a moment.  
  
"Are you all right?" Leon asked, pulling back just a little, so he could see Chris' face.  
  
Yeah. I think so. But there was something in Chris' face that said he might not be telling the whole truth and Leon wasn't surprised. No one would be all right after being kidnapped. Chris looked like he wanted to cry, badly.  
  
Leon picked Chris up and held him easily. "How about we get home, huh? D's going to be worried sick about you."  
  
Chris shook his head, though. He knows I'm okay. It was the Count who sent Tet-chan for me. He's at home waiting for us.  
  
Leon smiled and felt his adrenaline begin to slow down and tiredness began to overtake him. It made him very happy that Chris thought of the petshop as home, for some reason. As they all walked together, Leon glanced across the street and saw that the parade of children and the one adult shepherd had vanished. Leon didn't even think about going after them. It was far more important to get Chris home and to see D. Leon would go after the other children when he was sure D was at home and that Chris was with him.  
  
At the Souma Estate-  
  
Akito-  
  
'So...this is what it's like to die.' It was actually far less painful than Akito had envisioned. At least it was warm and the flowers were in bloom.  
  
Surrounded by his family, or at least most of them, Akito was laying in his garden and he could do little more than talk at this point. Everything had gone downhill very quickly. First his legs and then his hands, the rest of Akito's body had fallen quickly after, growing numb and lifeless.  
  
"Where is everyone?" Akito asked, turning his head to look at Hatori. Hatori had not left his side since the moment he'd arrived, though there was little Hatori could do at this point. It made Akito furious that Hatori could just...just sit there! Why wasn't he doing something, anything that could save Akito? He probably wanted Akito to die, he'd been waiting for this ever since Kana had left. That wasn't Akito's fault, he'd said that over and over again, it wasn't his fault! Kana shouldn't have gotten so close to Hatori, she just wanted to hurt him. Why was Hatori just staring at his hands? Had he grown stupid lately? "Answer me! Where's my family! Yuki! Kyou! Shigure! They should be here. For one...just one..." He just wanted to see them all, for just one last time. Why couldn't they ever do what he wanted them to do? Why couldn't anyone listen to him?  
  
"We've tried to contact them, but there's no answer at Shigure's house." Hatori replied quietly. "We've sent someone over there, but the house is empty."  
  
"I want them here." Akito asked for so little, didn't he? Couldn't he have his family around when he died? He was doing this for them. Ungrateful...no. Not ungrateful. Were they crying? Ritsu was clinging onto Ayame's arm and Kagura had her face buried in her hands with Rin's arm around her. Everyone was crying. Everyone was sad. For him? For Akito? "I want Shigure? Get him here." Akito had never thought that they would cry for him. Didn't they hate him? Sometimes, Akito hated himself, so how could anyone cry for him?  
  
"We don't know where he is." Ayame spoke this time, alternately patting Ritsu's hair and stroking Kisa's back. "We've tried to find him, but he's just vanished." It sounded so strange to hear Ayame so subdued.  
  
Akito didn't want to die without seeing Shigure. He didn't want to die without seeing Yuki again. He just didn't want to die. What would happen if he closed his eyes again? Would he be able to open them again? What if this was what death was going to be like, closing one's eyes and never being able to open them again. To hear everything that went on around one, to know when one was being buried and to hear the dirt being piled on, to know and be able to do nothing. It was a nightmare and Akito didn't want to close his eyes. He didn't want to give up his life, no matter how unpleasant.   
  
To be continued...  
  
Dear readers, thanks to all of you who've reviewed, it really means a lot to me. 


	23. Betrayed

Chapter 23: Betrayed  
  
In the Petshop-  
  
Kyou-  
  
Kyou slept, having no idea of what was going on around him, but he was aware that something was happening. While his dreams were filled with happiness and comfort, something was changing. Kyou wasn't frightened or even very worried, the change wasn't something that he really even noticed unless he concentrated. It was subtle and felt natural. The only way Kyou could have explained it, if anyone had asked him, was that it felt like laying in the sunshine on a patch of soft moss on a warm spring morning. Not summer, spring. Definitely spring.   
  
While he slept, Kyou dreamed of many things. He saw the cabin he shared with Kazuma in the mountains and happy, innocent days running through the forest. He sat on the roof of Shigure's house and watched the stars while he listened to Tohru, Yuki, and Shigure talk, their voices drifting up from the open window below. He saw Kazuma in the dojo, tirelessly practicing a graceful kata. Kyou walked through the dark halls of the house he'd shared with his mother at the estate. Kyou stood in the crowd and watched the parade of the cursed as the Zodiac members of his family marched solemnly through the estate to the little house where the Zodiac Banquet was always held. Kyou watched the faces of his family as they passed him and he saw, for the first time, not people to be envied, but people he should be helping to take care of. Family.  
  
Why could he only see that in dreams? Was he really so blinded by his own desires that he couldn't see how much the others needed him? He was strong and he should be strong for them. Only the weak were so selfish as to...  
  
Kyou felt a terrible stab of pain, like lightening though his mind. He was selfish. Selfish and inconsiderate. A real brat. He yelled too much and swore at the drop of a hat. How Kazuma could stand to be around him all the time was a mystery. Kyou hated himself. He hated the fact that he was alive and that he caused so much pain to everyone around him. He was useless and no matter what Yuki said, Kyou didn't really have any friends. It was only pity that had made Kazuma take Kyou in, not affection. Kyou's whole life was wasted, useless. Useless!  
  
Then the pain faded and Kyou drifted back into the more pleasant dreams. Even through the pain, Kyou had felt safe. He knew that no matter what was happening or what he was feeling, he was safe. No one and nothing could hurt him here.  
  
'Where is here?' Kyou's thoughts became coherent for a moment, but he couldn't answer his question. 'Where am I?' He seemed to remember something about a man with mismatched eyes and dark painted lips. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Everything was just fine and Kyou wanted to keep dreaming.  
  
Something touched Kyou's hand, but it wasn't disturbing enough to wake him from his dreams. The touch was soft, hesitant. It caressed his hand for a moment and then moved up to touch his cheek. Then the touch was gone and Kyou sank deeper into his dreams. Some pleasant and some were nightmarish, but in each dream, Kyou felt safe. He saw his mother kill herself, again.  
  
Crying and apologizing, Kyou's mother kissed him and held him tightly against her. It seemed, at the time, that she'd cried for such a long time. Now, as Kyou saw it all, detached as if he was just watching a movie, it only took a moment. She let Kyou go and stood up, picking up the gun from the kitchen table where it had been laying next to the teapot. Kyou had never actually seen a gun before that moment and he wasn't afraid when his mom held it up. He'd never seen one before. After one last assertion that she loved him, Kyou's mother shot herself in the forehead. She jerked backwards and collapsed, leaving Kyou too stunned to even move. Kyou didn't really understand until he saw the blood begin to seep out of the hole in her forehead and pool around her head on the floor. He no longer felt pity for himself as he watched his mom fall, but he did pity her. How lonely she must have felt.   
  
It was as if Kyou were watching his life from a distance and he could see it all clearly, without the burden of emotion. Kyou felt nothing about his life, but acknowledged that it was his and he'd lived it as best as he was able to. Kyou was satisfied with the life he'd led.  
  
Yuki-  
  
Yuki wrinkled his nose at the powerful smell in the room, but he shook his head and continued his search for Kyou. The front room of the petshop, for that was what it obviously was, was empty and Yuki paused only a moment to press his ear to the door before he went into the back of the store. His senses were screaming at him, but Yuki did his best to ignore them. He was afraid of what was behind that door, but it couldn't stop him. This place was like nothing Yuki had ever seen before, but though he was curious, Yuki kept his mind focused. He tired not to think too hard about how such an endless seeming building could be contained in such a small space, but concentrated on finding Kyou.  
  
In the long, winding halls, Yuki passed some animals, each one just walking free and apparently ignoring him. He didn't question it. The more questions he asked, lately, the fewer answers he had. The best course of action would be to get Kyou and get out before...  
  
A scream pierced the air and Yuki froze. He knew that scream. 'Tohru!' Yuki began to run, barreling in the direction of the scream. 'Hold on, Tohru!' The scream went on and on and Yuki tried not to imagine the horrible things that could be happening to Tohru. He finally came to a door where he thought the scream was coming from and threw it open. "Honda-san!"  
  
There was Tohru, naked but for a see-through shirt, and shaking with terror. The room was only half-lit from the open doorway Yuki had just come though, but the reason for Tohru's terror was easy to see. People pawing at her body surrounded her and it infuriated Yuki to see anyone touching Tohru like that. Men and women with strange shaped eyes and slender, sinuous bodies dressed in strange, exotic clothes were all piled into the room. Many of them were half laying on each other and, at once, everyone of them turned to look at Yuki with coldly eager faces.  
  
"Look," One of the odd people whispered, his eyes trained on Yuki, though both of his hands were on Tohru's shaking shoulders. "Another one. A rat." He licked his lips and Yuki was shocked to see, not a human tongue, but a tongue that was long and no wider than a pencil, forked at the end snake out of the man's mouth. "Delicious. The Count is in a generous temper to send us such meals."  
  
Tohru hadn't even seen Yuki, so engulfed in her own terror that she couldn't move. She held her hands clenched together at her breasts and her eyes squeezed closed.  
  
Yuki's eyes narrowed. He had no idea who or what these people were, but he would not let them hurt Tohru. "Get away from her." He ordered, keeping his voice level and cold. Yuki would be damned before he'd show any fear to these creatures!  
  
One of the women, dressed in silks and adorned with glittering gems, wrapped her arms around Tohru's knees, pressing her cheek into Tohru's thigh. "Come and join us, sweet one." Her eyes were just as cold as the man who was slipping his arms around Tohru's neck. The woman blinked and Yuki stared. He couldn't have seen it correctly, but it looked very much as if the woman had blinked with two eyelids, like a reptile would. "A pleasant, lazy day to relax. Are you weary? Come and sit by my side." There was something mesmerizing about her voice and Yuki had to look away from her inhuman eyes.  
  
Something about those eyes reminded Yuki of a certain snake he knew.  
  
A movement to his left caught Yuki's attention as he tried to watch all of them at once and figure out a way to get Tohru safely out of the room. There stood a beautiful woman. Well, what Yuki could see of her was beautiful. She had a magnificent body and was dressed in one of the most elaborate outfits Yuki had ever seen, a long, bejeweled gown. Her face, however, was blindfolded and Yuki could see nothing but her full lips and her long curling hair that fell around her shoulders. Wordlessly, the woman reached out towards Yuki, her fingers searching for him and Yuki found himself reluctant to move away from her. When the woman began to move closer to him, though, Yuki noticed something odd in the way she moved. She was graceful and gliding, but it wasn't normal. Yuki took a closer look at her legs and saw that she had none. Instead of legs, he saw a long, dark green serpent's tail.  
  
Without another word, Yuki backed away from the naga's searching hands and ran to Tohru. He grabbed her arm easily and met with no resistance from the strange people who'd been so intently fondling Tohru. "Come on!" Yuki shouted as he pulled Tohru as quickly as he could.  
  
"Souma-san?" Tohru's eyes fluttered open and she began to move her feet, eager to keep up with him. She smiled and gave a choking laugh out of relief to see Yuki with her. Once they were in the hall, Yuki stopped moving, but Tohru wasn't able to and they crashed together, both falling to the floor with Tohru laying almost half on Yuki. "I'm so...so sorry." Tohru's apology fell away as she saw what had Yuki speechless.  
  
Yuki hadn't transformed.  
  
For a moment, they stared at each other, dumbfounded. For them, time stopped and Yuki could honestly say that his heart stopped for a moment. The fact that Tohru was nearly naked and right on top of him didn't matter. He hadn't transformed.  
  
The unreal moment was broken when Yuki looked over Tohru's shoulder and saw that the door they'd just burst through was still open and the blindfolded woman with her hands still stretched out and searching began to make her way towards Yuki and Tohru.  
  
"Come on, Honda-san." Yuki pulled Tohru to her feet and decided that this would all be best thought about later, after they'd found Kyou and escaped from this madness.  
  
"Yuki! You found me. You can see me!" Tohru's voice was choked with tears.  
  
"Yes, let's go now." It was the first time Tohru had ever called Yuki by his given name alone and, in other circumstances, he might have blushed red as a strawberry, but this was hardly the time. His hand was like steel around Tohru's little hand and he wasn't about to let go any time soon. The panic he'd felt when he knew that both Tohru and Kyou were missing had threatened to overwhelm Yuki's good sense and Tohru's retrieval had soothed a bit of that panic. All he had to do was find Kyou and go home.  
  
Yuki pulled Tohru along as best as he could, but for the first time he realized how much weaker she was than him, physically. It would have been easier to just pick her up and carry her, but for all of Yuki's speed, he really wasn't all that strong. In all the fights he'd had with Kyou, Yuki's speed and calm usually were what allowed him to win, not strength. He just wasn't sure that he would be able to defend them both if he carried her.  
  
Neither of them spoke as they ran, Yuki having to slow his pace drastically to let Tohru keep up. Yuki wasn't sure how it was possible, but he was starting to think that they were lost. When he'd gone into the petshop, Yuki had been sure to watch where he was going and he knew for a fact that there was only one hallway leading through the building. It was a long, winding passage, but there was only one. Therefor, logic dictated, they should only have to go backwards and they would find the exit. Yuki could send Tohru out and tell her to go to the estate and find Hatori or Shigure, then he could go back and keep looking for Kyou.  
  
They never quite made it, though.  
  
Just when they'd burst though what should have been the doorway leading into the front room, they found themselves in a room that was lit by a four lanterns which hung in each of the corners of the room. It gave the whole room a kind of strange glow, a mix of shadow and light that made it all look quite surreal. There was one large bed in the middle of the room, a simple yet large bed with fine white sheets. The floor was covered with a dozen elegant tapestry carpets over a stone floor overlapping each other.  
  
All of a sudden, Yuki realized he was still holding Tohru's hand and that Tohru was panting heavily from the run though the petshop. "Are you all right?" He asked, careful to keep his eyes respectfully on her face instead of the other, more revealed parts of her.  
  
Tohru nodded, though she still looked very pale. When she'd caught her breath enough to speak, Tohru gasped out, "Kyou's here! I saw him! He was with that man, the one at the house that hurt him! We have to find him." Tohru made to turn around and only stopped when Yuki kept a firm grip on her hand.  
  
"Don't go running off." He advised. "We need to think."  
  
"But Kyou..."  
  
"I'm not abandoning him. But there's something wrong about this place, you must have noticed." Yuki told her then of his believe that there was more than one of these people who'd attacked Kyou. He told her that he thought Shigure might know more than he was telling anyone and that he'd followed Kyou here himself. It was a good thing he had or he might not have found Tohru. Tohru, as was her nature to do, accepted what Yuki said without hesitation or doubt.  
  
"All right." Tohru swallowed hard and put on her most determined face. "What should we do first?"  
  
"Find you some clothes." It was tempting to just stay in the room that seemed free of strange people or whatever they were, but Yuki knew that wouldn't be a very intelligent thing to do. This was a bedroom and hardly a place to hide, especially as this was most likely the bedroom of the master of the house and that was the person Yuki wanted to meet the least. First thing was first, however.  
  
Yuki went to the tall, freestanding wardrobe and began to rifle though the long, colorful robes. Whoever lived here had a definite sense of style. Each of the outfits Yuki looked at was rich and obviously expensive and Yuki had the fleeting thought that Ayame would have an orgasm just looking at the clothes.  
  
'Arggg!' Yuki shook his head at the image that thought conjured in his mind. 'That's the LAST thing I want to think about! I'll have nightmares tonight!'  
  
At last, Yuki found something suitable and held out a robe to Tohru. "Here. It'll get you to the estate, if nothing else." The robe wasn't one of the more expensive looking ones, but it would do. It was plain black with silver trim around the loose wrists and the high, Chinese-style collar. Anything more fancy than that and Tohru might refuse to wear it.  
  
Tohru pulled on the robe with a very minimum of prodding as her sense of right and wrong was confused by her modesty. She did mutter that she would return it as soon as she had her own clothes to wear again and apologize for just taking it. Yuki dismissed that idea at once; Tohru would NOT be returning to this place. If she wished, he would mail it back, but she would not be coming back here. The robe was far too big for Tohru, it had obviously been made for a man, but it covered what it needed to.  
  
Just when Tohru had finished pulling on the dress, Yuki froze at a noise he heard outside the door. "Hide!" Yuki hissed at Tohru, giving her a push towards the wardrobe. It wasn't much of a hiding place, but it was plenty big enough for Yuki and Tohru to both crawl into and close the doors after them. Cramp, but safe for the moment. He would fight his way out, if he needed to, but Yuki really would prefer to just sneak quietly away.  
  
Once in the wardrobe, Tohru was pressed so close to Yuki that, in normal situations, he would have transformed for certain. In this one case, it might actually have been helpful as it would be easier for Tohru to hide. However, once again, Yuki stayed human and he thought back to the words the man had spoken to him just after Tohru had vanished at Shigure's house.  
  
'She's not human. You don't have to change.'  
  
It must all be true. But if Tohru wasn't human, then what was she? What had happened to her and how had she gotten here? She must have been human before, they'd always transformed when Tohru bumped them. So what was different now?  
  
The door of the bedroom opened and Yuki peered out of the keyhole of the wardrobe to see the two men who walked in. One of the men bore the face of the man who'd attacked Kyou and thrown Tohru out the window and, but for the shorter hair, they might have been twins. The second man though the door was more familiar and more shocking to see in this place. Leon Orcot. Now what would Ayame's friend be doing here?  
  
Count D-  
  
D couldn't begin to express the relief he felt when Tet-chan and Leon came home, carrying little Chris. He was so taken by emotion that D didn't try to speak when Tet-chan pushed open the door and Leon walked in with Chris nestled into his arms.  
  
Count! Chris held out his arms to D and D eagerly went to hug the child. Chris wasn't quite willing to let go of Leon right away and held onto Leon's neck with one arm while he hugged D with the other. It was as close to a hug as D had ever gotten with Leon and he broke away as soon as possible, knowing that Leon wouldn't like being so close to him.  
  
They settled Chris down in his bed for a well-deserved nap with the ever faithful Tet-chan serving as guard. It was a touching moment that caused D to smile as he watched Leon lay Chris down in his bed. Chris' bedroom was an anomaly in the Petshop. Completely without the air of mystery and darkness that engulfed the rest of the petshop, Chris' bedroom looked like any other little boy's bedroom one might find in any other house. The walls were painted blue and there was a dark green rug on the floor. The entire room was littered with toys and books and clothes. It seemed that Chris took after his big brother in more than just looks; he was just as sloppy as Leon. The only thing that Chris' room did not have was a window, but to make up for it, Leon had given Chris a beautiful painting of the countryside. In fact, Leon had done all the work on the bedroom, including painting the walls and putting together the little bed. It was one of the few things that gave Leon joy, doing things for Chris.  
  
"I'm not going anywhere far, got it?" Leon said gruffly as he tucked Chris into bed and smoothed back his hair from his forehead. "You shout if you need anything and me or D will come running. I mean it, you have a nightmare or something goes bump in the night, and someone will be here."  
  
Little Chris, now dressed in his pajamas and looking absolutely exhausted, shook his head. I'll be okay, big brother. I want you to find the other kids. Those people killed Suki. She was nice to me and they killed her. Chris' face was pale and wan with all that had happened in just the passed few hours and D wished he could do something to make everything all better for the child, but he kept his distance and let the brother's have their moment. Little Chris took Leon's hand. Will you find them? The other kids?  
  
Leon answered without hesitation. "You bet I will."  
  
Tet-chan peered out at D from under Chris' bed and he spoke so that only D could hear his voice. D had long suspected that Leon could hear the voices of the pets, he just didn't chose to. It was the strange thing about Leon, he could lie so well to himself that he could ignore reality. "There're strangers in the petshop, Count. At least one, but I think two." Tet-chan sniffed at the air. "I think a bird and a rat."  
  
D just nodded. He knew about the strangers, Q-chan had been good enough to tell him about them the moment the two children had entered the petshop. He wasn't sure what he would do with the rat, the Zodiac rat couldn't just walk away, not yet, anyway. The nightingale, Tohru, well, she would stay at the petshop where she belonged. D was pleased to finally have her back and he wanted to make sure she was undamaged by her experience living as a human.   
  
Perhaps it would have been kinder to leave her believing she was human.   
  
Perhaps not.  
  
"Let's go." Leon took D away from his thoughts when he stood up and began walking out of the room. "I think he's almost asleep anyway." Leon looked over his shoulder at Chris and Tet-chan before he followed D out and closed the door behind him. Once out of sight of the child, Leon sighed and put his face in his hands.  
  
D became concerned when Leon didn't look up for a long time. "Leon? Are you feeling well? Perhaps you should return to the hospital."  
  
"No, no." Leon looked up and rubbed his eyes with his hands. "Just the stress, I think. It's been a real long day."  
  
"True. I am certain you gave the hospital staff heart attacks when you walked out of the hospital. I was sure you were more seriously injured than that." Of course D knew Leon was seriously injured, the bullet would have been fatal without D's intervention of the Gattolotto. Still, there was no need to worry Leon's mind about that.  
  
"Forget the hospital," Leon grinned dryly. "You should have seen Jill's face when I woke up. I thought I was going to get a kiss." He laughed, though it sounded forced.  
  
"I did not see Miss Jill with you when you and Chris returned with Tet-chan." D commented as he took Leon's arm gently and they began to walk together. Luckily, Leon was tired enough that he didn't seem to notice the touch, or he surely would have jumped away from D. Not that D minded, he rather liked an excuse to touch Leon.  
  
"When we found Chris, she went back to the hospital to pick up Mine-san. You should see them together, D. I don't think I've ever seen Jill so happy, even if she tries to hide it. I can tell." By this time, Leon had been successfully guided to D's bedroom and still didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until D took his hand off Leon's arm and pushed open the doors. "Huh? Where are we?"  
  
"My chambers." D told him, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. "Have a seat on the bed and take off your shirt." It was important that Leon not think D had anything ulterior on his mind, even if D wished...  
  
Leon hadn't moved from the doorway and gaped at D. "What?"  
  
"Are you having trouble with your hearing, Leon?" D gave him that little smile that he knew irritated Leon so very much. "I said, sit on the bed and take your shirt off. This will be difficult with your shirt on."  
  
"I hear what you said! But...I mean...what are you talking about?" He'd obviously been put on guard and it amused D. Leon was adorable when he was trying to act as if he were in control. Leon's eyes darted around, taking in the whole room all at once and he shifted from foot to foot, nervously. "I really should go, you know? Ummm, I told Jill I'd meet her, we have something to check out and...well..."  
  
Again, D was amused. It was clear what Leon was thinking and that it made him highly uncomfortable. D was encouraged. In the past, Leon would run from the room if D had tried this and now he only fidgeted and looked like he wanted to run away. "How will I check your wound if you do not take your shirt off?" He asked, pointedly.  
  
"Wound?" Leon's eyes met D's and D could see the relief. "Ohhhhh! I get it." Now he came into the room without reservation did just as D had told him, sitting on the bed and beginning to take off his shirt. "It's nothing to worry about, I think everyone just overreacted. I can barely feel a thing, now." Leon looked as if he were about to throw his shirt carelessly aside when he seemed to remember where he was and just kept it on his lap.  
  
Seeing Leon half-naked, D was hard pressed not to let his admiration show. It wasn't the first time he'd seen Leon so bare, but his breath caught every single time. There was something undeniably human about Leon. He was, on the surface, strong and confident, absolutely unshakable in the belief that he could do anything he set his mind to. He was also frighteningly fragile. Delicate. Leon was both brilliant and simplistic at once. Leon's physical attractiveness was a bonus.  
  
"What are you staring at?" Leon asked, suspiciously.  
  
"You." D said, honestly. He really had no problems lying to Leon, as Leon didn't believe the truth, half the time. Still, it would be best to stop teasing Leon. There was work to be done and D could barely spare a moment. "Lay down, Leon. I want to make sure you are completely healed."  
  
"I don't know what you think you can do that the doctor's can't. Are you supposed to be a doctor, now? I feel perfectly fine." Leon did as he was told, even as he was questioning D, and was prone on the bed and looking more uncomfortable than ever. "I really have to hurry. Remember Murakai? I saw more Black Scorpion kids like him, I think. I saw one kid with the Black Scorpion tattoo on his chest, anyway. I think I know where I can find them."  
  
"And I have no doubt that you will, Leon. For now, though, we must look after your health." The situation was awkward for D, as well, but for different reasons. How tempting Leon looked, stretched out like that...no. D knew nothing could come of any kind of relationship and there was no pointing raising his hopes. Even if he found that Leon was amiable to more than friendship, D would still have to deal with Sofu. Besides which, there was one huge problem which could not be overcome, not even by a Kami. Leon was human, mortal. He would age and die in a very short time while D would continue. Alone.  
  
It wasn't a fate D was willing to gambol on. He didn't think he could bear living for the rest of the eternity with a broken heart.  
  
So D examined Leon as best as he could, a mere touch here or there telling D everything he wanted to know. Leon's body was nearly perfectly healed, all but a few little things here and there which only needed time to fully heal.   
  
"You still look tired, Leon. Perhaps you should sleep." D said, without taking his eyes off Leon's chest. He didn't want to look at Leon's face. D's emotions were still all too powerful to deal with. He had only seen Leon on the edge of death a few short hours ago and had known fear as he had never known it before. It was not something D liked to think about, but it was apart of him he just couldn't ignore. He had feared for Leon's life and it wasn't the first time. Sofu never came right out and said that he was displeased with D's affection towards Leon, but D was sure Sofu was unhappy with it. Sofu would never become so attached to anyone.  
  
"I can't sleep, there's to much to do." Leon said, even as he stretched his arms up and folded them comfortably behind his head. "I've gotta go find those kids. I haven't even told Jill that I saw them. I want to know where they came from and where they're going. Chris could tell me, but I don't want to upset him anymore than he already is." Leon yawned and let his eyes close a minute. "I have to go see that Ayame's all right, Jill said something about someone in the family dying. He might need me."  
  
D didn't reply to any of this as he was concentrating on Leon's still healing wound. It would be a lie to say he wasn't affecting Leon at all. In a very subtle way, D was convincing Leon's body that he was tired and, shortly, Leon would be sound asleep and safe while D took care of the rest of the problems around here. He didn't really mind Leon running amok while trying to solve his cases, but D was going to be a little distracted in the next couple of hours and he liked to be able to keep an eye on Leon while he was running amok. Once everything got settled, then Leon would be properly rested and completely healed, ready to do battle with the world.  
  
Yes, D knew how important it was to Leon that he found the people he was looking for. D knew that those people who'd sent young Murakai to his petshop were doing horrible things. However, D also knew that Leon's body needed just a little more time to heal and nothing was more important than Leon's health.  
  
Soon, Leon was fast asleep.  
  
'I shouldn't do this.' D thought as he stared down at Leon, looking so comfortable and natural on D's bed. 'This won't end well.'  
  
D stood up from where he'd been sitting on the side of the bed and decided he would cover Leon with a blanket, not to keep Leon warm so much as to preserve Leon's dignity when he did wake. "Children," D called out. "There is a blanket on the bottom shelf of that wardrobe. Do bring one out, won't you?" He managed not to smile. The children had really thought they could hide from him in his own home?  
  
A moment passed before the door swung silently open and D got his first good look at the rat of the Zodiac family. The boy was thin and lithe, looking as if he would grow just a bit taller before he was fully-grown. His eyes were violet and angry when he stepped from the wardrobe and D suspected half that anger was shame at being found so easily. The young were so sensitive.  
  
"The blanket?" D asked as if nothing were at all odd about having children hiding in his wardrobe.  
  
The next to step out from the wardrobe was the young nightingale holding the blanket in her hands. Clutching it, really. "Ummm, I'm sorry, we didn't mean to be rude, but..."  
  
"No!" The young rat cut her off sharply and made a conscious effort to keep the bird behind him. "We don't have to apologize for anything! I want answers! Where's Kyou? I know he's here!"  
  
D smiled. Young people were so easily aggravated, too. "He is safe." D held out his hand and the bird handed him the blanket with which he covered Leon. "Why do we not retire to the parlor to speak? I believe we have many things to discuss and very little time." D was, on the whole, pleased by his progress. There was one last thing he needed to do and that would have to be taken care of within the hour. There was no reason not to have a chat with these children, though.  
  
When they were seated in the parlor, D took stock of the two children. Tohru, the nightingale, was regaining her composure after what must have been a fright at finding herself in the petshop. That was still a puzzle.   
  
'I wonder how she got her in the first place, though I am pleased that she is here.' D thought as he poured tea for his guests. 'I did not bring her here and I can not imagine papa doing such a thing. She is not exotic enough to capture his attention, not when he is so focused on the Zodiac family.'   
  
Ten-chan had told D that Tohru had no idea how she'd gotten into the petshop, but that she'd woken up in Ten-chan's forest room, which he shared with many other creatures. However Tohru had come to be there, it was lucky. Many of the other residents of the petshop were not so kindhearted as Ten-chan was, nor were they willing to wait and find out where Tohru had come from before they ate her.  
  
"Are you going to tell us or not?" The rat asked, not touching his tea. "Where's Kyou?"  
  
"Please," Tohru spoke up, no longer looking nearly so frightened as before. "Yuki and I really need to find Kyou, he was terrible hurt when we last saw him. I saw him here."  
  
"I know. He is a guest in my home, as are you." D hadn't missed the fact that Tohru was wearing one of his robes, but he thought it more polite not to say anything about it. The bird was no doubt shamed to be seen without clothing, as she'd thought she was human for so long and lived that way. He would let her keep it until he found her some more appropriate attire. "I understand that Ten-chan has told you much, child?" D spoke to Tohru first, deciding that it was the easiest of the problems to solve.  
  
Yuki looked at Tohru and D guessed that he didn't know Tohru had met anyone. It was unlikely that they'd had time to compare notes on their visit to the petshop while they were running from the snake room. It was quite possibly the worst room for a bird to enter and yet poor Tohru had. D was actually impressed that a bird and a rat had managed to escape the snakes. If Yuki was surprised to hear that Tohru had met someone in the petshop, he hid it very well and just listened.  
  
Tohru explained what happened to her and her very natural fear of the snakes in the snake room came shining through in her eyes. She hid her other fear, that of what she found out about herself.  
  
"I am sorry that you had such an unwelcome reception into my home. Tell me, child, do you accept the fact that you are not human?"  
  
Tohru bit her lip before answering. "I-I know I saw my reflection as a bird. Kyou couldn't see me and Ten-chan said it was because he only saw me as a bird. I'm not really sure if I believe it because Souma-san can see me. Right?" She addressed this last Yuki.  
  
"Of course I can. Tohru doesn't seem any different from any other time I've seen her. She isn't at all different."  
  
D nodded. "Quite correct. She is no different than before. Yet, if you think back at your time with her, do you not think she was always a little different?"  
  
"Everyone's different."  
  
"Denial will do only harm in this delicate situation." D told Yuki, gently. "She does not smell like a human and her way of thinking has always seemed a little inhuman. I know it has, I understand more than you know. Always before," D looked at Tohru, "You have been concerned with nothing but the happiness of your owner, your mother. She needed someone like you who could give her unconditional love. This makes you different and even though you try to be human, you can not deny that you have always felt out of place."  
  
This only made Yuki angrier and it was shown though his voice becoming quieter and his body becoming stiller. "Tohru is special, we all know that. It has nothing to do with this nonsense of her being a bird. She's a kind, generous, selfless person."  
  
"Logic is the downfall of all humans and the human blood in your veins is showing. Will you believe if I show you?" It was only D's influence that was allowing the rat child to see his companion as a human. Had D wished it, Kyou would have seen Tohru as a human, also. That might have complicated things, however. He had needed to get Kyou somewhere safe and alone as quickly as possible and Tohru would have distracted him.  
  
It was all in the blood. D took one of his razor sharp fingernails and sliced the palm of his hand, letting several drops of blood rise to the surface. Before he could get any further, Tohru suddenly sprang into action. She jumped off the sofa and took D's wrist in her hands.  
  
"Are you hurt?" She asked, genuinely concerned. "Why did you do that? We'll have to find bandages now." She seemed almost on the verge of panic at the sight of D's blood.  
  
D was surprised at her compassionate nature, but not very. In the absence of her owner/mother, Tohru had evidently come to the conclusion that she would care for everyone around her. It was not a good substitute and D knew that before he left Tohru, he would have to find her a proper owner. If she continued trying to take care of everyone and trying to make everyone happy, then she would wear herself out in a matter of time and it could even exhaust her to the point of death.  
  
"No fears, child." D told Tohru gently, extracting his hand from hers least she touch his dangerous blood. "This is natural for my kind." The blood on his hand dried, almost instantly, to powder while Tohru and Yuki watched. "A thing I use to protect my pets and guard this petshop, my own blood." D reached out to the candle that burned beside his chair and picked it up with his free hand. He touched the flame to the little pool of blood on his palm. Just a tiny touch of the little flame was all it took to set the dried blood on fire and a sweet scent wafting through the air.   
  
D couldn't help but wonder how Leon would react if he knew exactly where the incense that in the petshop came from.  
  
Perhaps one might be curious as to why Kyou had seen Tohru's bird shape and Yuki saw only her human shape. Partly, this had to do with what D wanted the children to see. If Kyou had seen Tohru as human he would not have gone so willingly into the petshop to begin his transformation. D had not been around to control what Yuki had seen in Tohru, so Yuki saw what he expected to see, as did many humans. The incense that burned in the petshop was made from D, so he was the one who determined what effect it would have on people.   
  
As the scent filled the air, Yuki watched Tohru and his eyes grew wide. D knew what he was seeing and knew that the child was frightened. The incense was letting the child see Tohru's nightingale form.  
  
"H-honda-san?" He reached out to her, but pulled back when the small amount of incense burned itself out and he saw Tohru return to her human form.   
  
"Souma-san, what's wrong?" Tohru had no idea what Yuki was seeing, though she must have known something was wrong for him to act so strangely.  
  
"Nothing. I think." Yuki took a deep breath and reached out quickly to grab Tohru's shoulder and pull her away from D. He brought her back to sit by him on the sofa. "I believe you. I don't know how or why, but I believe you. Now what? What are you going to do with us? With Kyou?"  
  
"If you leaves my petshop, Tohru, the outside world will only see you as human. That is part of how you were made. Because you were sold as an egg, you had no way of knowing how to control your other form. I made you this way for your own safety. Had you been raised by a nightingale family, instead of a human, you would think of yourself as a nightingale and be seen as such." D spoke only to Tohru, as this really was her concern and not the rat's. "You are able to live the rest of your life as a human female and you will have no difficulties except one. You will never be able to have children. Your form is human, but you are a nightingale. If you stay here, however, I will teach you to control your shape and you may choose."  
  
Tohru's eyes took on a far away look. "I always thought there was something wrong with me. It felt like I never fit in with the world around me and I never could understand why. I guess this must be the reason. I really don't belong."  
  
"Of course you belong." D argued. "You simply feel different."  
  
"I don't understand why Yuki doesn't transform anymore."  
  
"That is simply. You no longer see yourself as human and a person's thoughts are a vast source of power. Before, Yuki believed you were human without a doubt. Now, there he knows you are not. Even before he came here, he knew, somehow." D would have to question the rat about that, later. "Because Yuki does not believe you are human, even if he says he does, his body reacts accordingly. He will not transform unless he believes he has been hugged or bumped by a human female." D stopped suddenly. "We will have to continue this conversation at a later time. I have business to attend to." He stood up and began to leave.  
  
"Wait a minute! I have more questions." Yuki jumped to his feet. "Where's Kyou?!"  
  
"Hmm? Oh. Q-chan, please show them to our newest guest's room." The little winged bat, perched on one of the high bird cages, fluttered down and landed on D's shoulder with a questioning squeak. "Yes, that one. They are guests, but make sure they keep out of trouble. Thank you, Q-chan."  
  
Yuki's eyes narrowed. "I saw that thing before. Shigure went chasing after it."  
  
Now that was a curious thing to say. "You must be mistaken." D told Yuki, honestly. "Q-chan does not often leave the petshop without me and he has been here all day. Now, I must take my leave. Time grows short. Please, feel at home, but stay with Q-chan." Before he left, one other thought occurred to him. "Oh, I must tell you, do not disturb your cat when you find him. Any disturbance could kill him at this delicate stage." Then he left, headed on his way to the Souma estate to retrieve the head of the Souma's and the Zodiac family. The head of that family would die very shortly until D managed to get him back to the petshop.  
  
Yuki spoke again, just as D was halfway out the door. "What if we choose to leave?"  
  
"That is your choice." D replied. "My petshop is not a prison. However, as I said before, if you choose to leave, you must leave without Kyou. He will die if you try to move him."  
  
At the estate-  
  
Kureno-  
  
Kureno really wasn't all that surprised to find the security of the estate increased. Akito took family security very serious and with such a serious thing as an attempted murder on the life of the head of the family, no doubt every able-bodied Souma had been called in to help the usual security.  
  
"Kureno-san," One guard at the front gate stopped him and eyed the parade of children with him. "Who are they? I have orders from..."  
  
"They are with me." Kureno answered, barely pausing on his way passed the guard.  
  
"But, sir, we have orders."  
  
"They are in my care and I will explain to Akito." It was final and the Souma's had learned not to argue with Kureno. It wasn't often that Kureno showed that he had a mind of his own. He wasn't willing to leave the children unsupervised for any amount of time, especially not these children. After they'd gone a good distance into the estate, on their way towards Akito's house, Kureno realized he hadn't thought of what he should tell Akito about the children.  
  
Looking over his shoulder, Kureno easily caught the eye of the oldest one of the children, a boy about fifteen years old who bore the familiar tattoo on his chest of the Black Scorpion. There were several children with the tattoo, but the oldest boy was undoubtedly the most experienced of them all.   
  
"What's your name?" Kureno asked when the boy came to join him at the head of the parade at a nod from Kureno.  
  
"Omi."  
  
"Do you have a family name?"  
  
"Not that I remember, sir."  
  
Kureno frowned at the use of the word 'sir'. He was not a 'sir'. He was just like these children. 'Sir' was someone who gave orders and told one what to do, like Akito. Still, Kureno didn't correct Omi. He knew, better than anyone, what Omi was probably feeling. He was separated from the people who'd created him and gave him purpose, so Omi and the rest of the children would be frightened and in need of reassurance. Omi didn't look afraid, but then, neither did any of the other children. They were trained not to show fear. Kureno decided that, for now, he would be 'sir' for the children. It would give them comfort and it would be safer for all Souma's if the children had someone they could take orders from and who better for that than Kureno?  
  
"Omi, I will need to speak with the head of my family. I am going to take you somewhere to rest and I will have food sent to you. Can you keep control of everyone until I return?"  
  
"Yes, sir." Omi said calmly. He looked at the boy in Kureno's arms.  
  
Kureno knew Omi must be curious, but unwilling to ask about the boy. "The wound is little more than a large cut and the bleeding is already slowing down. I will have a doctor examine him as soon as possible, but for now he only needs rest." There was little to worry about, not that Omi looked worried.  
  
Omi nodded and looked over his shoulder at the other children. Whatever he was thinking, Omi kept it to himself.   
  
Kureno took them to the only place he could think of where they would be out of the way, the Rooster's House. He'd never even seen the inside before, but he knew it was deserted and a safe place to keep the children. The house was dusty and full of things Kureno had never seen before but had belonged to the rooster before him, whomever that had been. Kureno broke open the locked door, having no time to find the key, and let the children settle themselves in as they pleased while he place the injured boy on the dusty couch and bandaged the arm with a piece of the boy's shirt. It wasn't nearly as serious as Kureno had thought and the boy would likely wake in an hour or so if not sooner.  
  
Luckily, the phone still worked and Kureno was able to order some food for the children. He ordered it from Akito's chef and was pretty sure that Akito would never even notice.  
  
-Twenty orders of rice, fish, pork buns, and apples?- The incredulous man asked. He sounded slightly horrified at the order and Kureno wondered how long it had been since the man had been asked to make anything other than the meager amount Akito asked for, when he remembered to eat. -Are you sure, Kureno-san?-  
  
"Very sure. Have them delivered to the Rooster's House as soon as you've finished. Milk, too. Two gallons of milk." He hung up the telephone, certain that the food would be delivered as quickly as possible. The chef wouldn't dare refuse an order from Kureno, one of the Inner Circle. Though the man didn't know about the curse, he did know that Kureno was very close to Akito and that it wasn't wise to offend any of the Inner Circle.  
  
Kureno dialed again, but there was no answer at Hatori's house. It was odd, but not inexplicable. Akito had been nearly shot and the agitation might have caused him illness again. That meant that he would most likely find Hatori at Akito's house.  
  
"Watch him." Kureno told Omi. "He will likely remain asleep, but if he wakes, keep him still. I will find a doctor. Food will be delivered shortly, make sure everyone gets an equal share."  
  
Omi nodded wordlessly and sat on the couch next to the injured boy. As soon as Omi sat, so did the rest of the children, on the floor. Satisfied, Kureno left, in search of Akito and Hatori.  
  
Shigure-  
  
"What's the meaning of this?" Shigure asked, irritated at the further delay. This was not the day he wanted to deal with some simpleton who was to puffed up about his own importance.  
  
"Forgive me, but orders are orders." The estate security force was made up entirely of Souma's as Akito said he couldn't trust anyone who wasn't family. It was a good idea and provided employment for more than two dozen men and women. They wore no specific uniform, but every one of them wore a black armband on their upper arm and carried a staff as a weapon. Akito could have gotten guns for his security, if he'd wanted to, but Hatori had overridden him on grounds that any silly fool carrying a gun would endanger Akito's life. In truth, Hatori just didn't like guns.  
  
Shigure crossed his arms over his chest and tried to keep smiling. "I don't have any identification on me, this is my family's estate, why should I need any?" For the first time in his life, Shigure had just been asked to show a picture identification before being allowed to enter the walls of the Souma estate. It wasn't unheard of, the Souma's had a reasonable security force, but that was only for strangers and guests and family who lived away from the estate for extended periods. Shigure was apart of the Inner Circle and couldn't help but feel more than a little insulted at this charade.  
  
"We've had recent reason to increase security, sir. Photo I.D.'s are required for everyone entering the estate. The orders come from the top."  
  
"Akito?"  
  
"No, sir. My orders come directly from Hatori-sensei. I must see your..."  
  
At that moment another guard came along and shouted to the first, "What do you think you're doing?!" He turned quickly to Shigure and bowed low. "I'm sorry, Shigure-san, he's new and just arrived from out of the country. I suppose he hasn't been told about all the rules, yet. Please, go right in."  
  
Shigure thanked the guard with a pleasant smile, though his mind was on the reason for this increased security. Shigure could believe Akito making some rash order about increasing the security around the estate, but Hatori was far to level-headed to do something like this without very good reason. "May I ask what's going on? What happened around here?"  
  
"An attack, Shigure-san." The second, more experienced, guard told him. "Someone started shooting just outside the front gates and Akito-sama was right there. He was almost hit, but some stranger saved him. Akito-sama ordered that the entire estate searched so that's what we're doing. Every house and even in the wooded areas, people are turning the estate upside-down. Hatori-sensei ordered that everyone coming into the estate be required to show a picture I.D. and if they weren't Souma's, then they were to be turned away."  
  
"I see. Thank you." As Shigure walked away, he heard the two guards behind him talking.  
  
"You don't know much yet, but don't do that again. Shigure-san's one of the Inner Circle and he's allowed full access everywhere."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean? Inner Circle? I've heard about it, but I never met one of them."  
  
"You might not meet any more, either. There aren't many of them, but they get full respect from the likes of you and me."  
  
"The likes of us? You talk like they're royalty or something."  
  
"In this family they are, especially Shigure-san and Hatori-sensei. Just you remember; if you go against them, you go against Akito-sama. That's not something you want to do."  
  
"He can't be all that bad."  
  
"You've only been here for what? Two weeks? You saw Akito-sama once for two whole minutes in a formal greeting. If you go against him, well...just truest me, bad things would happen. You obey orders from the Inner Circle as if they come from the lips of God or you'll find your job reassigned and you'll be cleaning toilets in every house in the entire estate for the rest of your life."  
  
"That's absurd!" The first guard snorted and tried to brush off the warning. "I'll just get a job outside the estate."  
  
"And where are you going to live when Akito-sama kicks you out of your house, which he owns? What are you going to do for money when you can't find a job because Akito-sama has the money to keep you from getting a job if he's feeling vindictive? Don't go looking for trouble. Look, I'll tell you who all the Inner Circle are and I'll point them out. Hatori-sensei is the doctor, he's second only to Akito-sama so you always do what Hatori-sensei tell you to do. You've met him, already. Kureno-san's Akito-sama's bodyguard, don't screw with him, it's not worth it. Then there's..."   
  
Shigure had walked to far away to hear the rest of the conversation. It wasn't often that he heard what the rest of the family thought of the Inner Circle.  
  
Shigure arrived at Akito's house with little fanfare. The inner house seemed to be deserted and everything was eerily quiet. Even Akito's birds were silent.  
  
It became increasingly evident that Sofu D hadn't been lying the closer Shigure got to Akito's house.  
  
The scent of death was heavy in the air. Akito really was dying.  
  
Kureno-  
  
"I killed Ren." Kureno said, kneeling next to Hatori at Akito's side.  
  
"Good." Akito said in a breathless voice. "Was it painful? Did you make her suffer?"  
  
"Yes." Kureno said what he knew Akito would wish to hear. "She has paid for the pain she's give you."  
  
Akito had never looked so frail as he did just laying there. Akito couldn't move from his neck down and his hands had been carefully laid at his sides. His skin was pale, even paler than was normal for him until he was nearly the color of snow. For once, his charcoal colored hair was brushed back from his face and fell around his head, almost like a black halo. His hands were like skeleton fingers and even Kureno could see how shallow Akito's breathing was.  
  
Hatori did nothing. Sitting with his hands folded on his lap, Hatori kept his one eye on Akito with a carefully controlled, neutral expression. If anything could be done to save the head of the family, Hatori would have been working frantically to do it. That Hatori had given up hope meant that there was no hope left.  
  
"Where are they?" Akito asked, taking Kureno out of his morbid thoughts. "Why aren't they here?"  
  
Kureno knew whom Akito was asking for, there were three missing family members. "I haven't seen Shigure or Yuki."  
  
"And Kyou?"  
  
It surprised Kureno that Akito even asked for Kyou, though it shouldn't have. He'd heard enough of Akito's ravings and nightmares to know that Akito didn't hate Kyou so much as he feared him. "I did see Kyou, but...something happened." There was really no reason to upset Akito at this point. Why tell him that Kyou had not only revealed the curse to dozens of outsiders but had become a murderer in the same afternoon when Akito was on his deathbed? At least all the living witnesses, the children, to Kyou's transformation into his original self were safely tucked away in the Rooster's house until Hatori could see to them.  
  
There was nothing Kureno could do now to protect his master and Kureno hated the feeling. He owed Akito everything and, in the end, couldn't do a thing to protect him from the one real danger he'd always faced; the curse.  
  
"Greetings." Everyone looked up and Kureno jumped to his feet, placing himself between his family and the stranger who'd somehow made it passed all the security. The person was dressed in a long, brightly colored robe and had shoulder-length hair that seemed to be, at once, both purple and green. "Please, be at ease. I come to make your family an offer. I am Count D."  
  
Shigure-  
  
It pained Shigure more than a knife to the heart to see Akito paralyzed from the neck down. That was the rumor he'd heard from the servants on his way to Akito's house. They said that Akito had been struck by illness so badly that he wasn't able to do anything but speak.  
  
Shigure listened discreetly from the doorway as Count D spoke to the silent Souma family, offering them everything Sofu D had offered to Shigure. Akito's health and the well being of the family was being offered in such a polite tone and yet Shigure knew that if they didn't agree, Akito would be forcibly taken.  
  
None of the family wanted anything to do with the stranger, of course, but it was Akito who spoke first.  
  
"I'm not going anywhere." Akito growled in the same voice that Shigure remembered him using on Ren that first day after Junko had died, sixteen years ago. Akito had clung to Hatori and threatened to kill Ren if she dared to take him away from Hatori and his voice held the same promise of violence now.  
  
"Yes, you are." Count D replied easily. "For the sake of yourself and your family you will come with me. This is all the doing of my papa and I will undo it, whether it pleases you or not."  
  
Akito's eyes narrowed and he looked ready to kill if only he could move his body. "Get him out of here! I don't want him here!"  
  
At once, Ayame, Hatsuharu, and Kagura, all of them willing and able to defend Akito, joined Kureno.  
  
Count D only smiled tolerantly and Shigure knew he would have to speak before someone, most likely one of his family, was hurt. "Everyone, just relax." Shigure didn't even try to smile when he stepped out of the doorway and let himself be known. "Akito will go with him."  
  
There was a mutter of shock amongst his family, but Shigure was most pained by the betrayed look on Akito's face.  
  
Shigure turned to address Count D. "I spoke with Sofu D earlier."  
  
"Really? Most unusual." Was all that he said and Shigure wondered if Sofu D had spoken with Count D about all this.  
  
"He promised that Akito wouldn't go alone. You'll take Hatori and Kureno with you. I won't let Akito go alone."  
  
Count D merely shrugged indifferently. "As you wish. It is of no moment."  
  
Shigure faced his family and went to them. He put his hands on Kagura's shoulders and gave her a gentle push backwards, then did the same to Hatsuharu. "Trust me." Was all he said and, though they had very little reason to trust him, both of them backed away, warily. They knew Shigure often acted like a fool, but they also knew he would never willingly harm Akito.  
  
"What are you doing, 'Gure?" Ayame asked, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You can't just let him take Akito away. I've met him before, he's Leon's friend, but this just isn't right!" Ayame must be the most confused, he'd met Count D but hadn't thought that there was anything dangerous about him. Now it turned out that he seemed to know about the curse and was threatening to take Akito. Not only that, but he was Leon's friend and that might meant that Leon was in on all this, too.  
  
"Yes, I can and it is right. It's more than right, in fact." Shigure petted Ayame's soft face and thought of how very much Ayame meant to him. "This is...necessary. I believe this must be done." Shigure took Ayame's arm and moved him out of the way, also.  
  
Last was Kureno, the most immovable of them all. Shigure faced him with logic on his side. "Do you love Akito?"  
  
Kureno answered without hesitation. "Yes."  
  
"Then you will protect him?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then you must go with him. Whether you stay or go, Akito is going."  
  
Kureno said nothing, but his face became more guarded. He obviously didn't believe Shigure.  
  
"Akito will die today if we do nothing. We both know it. From the moment Akito was born we knew he'd die. You promised Akito that you'd always protect him, are you going to let death claim him now?"  
  
Kureno looked over Shigure's shoulder at Count D, still not trusting. "Are you sure he can do what he promises?"  
  
Another lie wouldn't hurt much. "Yes." Shigure had to show faith, any doubt in Count D on Shigure's part and Kureno wouldn't let Akito go anywhere and he would be hurt trying to stop Count D. All of his life, Shigure had been told that the family would follow him because he was the dog. Toma had told him that he wanted to protect everyone because he was the dog and Junko had told him that he was strong enough to take care of the family because he was the dog. Shigure hoped that it was true. This was the one moment when he needed the family to believe in him and forget all his foolishness over the years. If Akito died when there was a chance to save him, Shigure would never be able to live with himself.  
  
Kureno stepped aside. "I will be going with him."  
  
"Thank you, Kureno."  
  
"Thanks are unnecessary. I am doing my duty to protect Akito any way I can."  
  
At last, Shigure found himself at Akito's side and knelt down to look at him closely. It frightened Shigure, how terrible Akito looked. Akito's eyes were filled with fury.  
  
"Don't you dare do this to me." Akito hissed. "I will stay here. This is my home."  
  
"No." Shigure put a hand on Akito's face and felt how cold Akito was growing. "You will go with Count D. Kureno will protect you and Ha-san will look after your health, but you are going."  
  
"Traitor!" Akito's voice was laced with something very close to hate and it hurt Shigure just to listen to him.  
  
"Never. I would give my life for you, but that wouldn't help. That wouldn't save you. I'm so sorry if you're scared, but I can't live like this anymore. I can't bear to see you suffer."  
  
"Just let me die!" Akito looked as if he would attack if he could, but he lay so still. "I know I'm dying, give me some peace! You think I want to live like this? Knowing that I could never see another day? I hate living as much as I hate the thought of death."  
  
"I'm so tired, Akito." Shigure felt more than tired, he felt old. He felt as if he'd lived a hundred years and all those years were pressing down on him. It was too hard to keep up the pretense of the happy idiot. "Every day that passes, you hurt our family. I know you don't mean it. But...Akito, you slapped Kisa. She's a helpless little girl." Out of the corner of his eye, Shigure sat Hiro take Kisa's hand. His eyes went to Rin, were she sat awkwardly and still in pain. "You pushed Rin out of a window, you almost killed her. Your own family and you almost killed her. I could go on and on about how much you've hurt us. About Yuki and Kyou. About Hatori. It has to stop. I can't take it anymore. Damn it! I can't take it!" Shigure started to cry and it was no act. "I...I thought I was strong enough, but I'm not. I can't watch you hurt our family anymore. I thought I could help, I thought if I was strong enough, I could do something to make it all better. I can't do anything but Count D can."   
  
Akito's glare didn't soften. "You'd abandon me to a stranger. An outsider!"  
  
Shigure hated this. It was a painful moment of truth and he hated it. All his courage in getting away from the estate and having a safe place where the children could get away from the rest of the family if they wanted it, it had all been for nothing. What had he accomplished? Nothing. He had been lucky in Tohru's arrival, it was she who'd shown Yuki and Kyou that light did exist, even in the dark world of the Souma's. Sadly, even Tohru couldn't save Akito at this point. "You'll die if you don't go. Then things will only get worse." In truth, Shigure couldn't think of life without Akito.  
  
"No." Akito shook his head, trying to get his face away from Shigure's hands. "I won't go. I belong here, on the estate." Tears sprung to his eyes, furiously. "Don't you get it!? I want to be with my family!"  
  
"You're sick. You have to go." Shigure stood then and stepped back, away from Akito. "Count D has the power to make you well again." Shigure turned his back on Akito, as painful as it was. "Ha-san, you and Kureno go with him. Don't leave Akito alone for a moment."  
  
"Shigure?" Akito's voice, which had been so furious, was suddenly very frightened and though he couldn't see Akito's face, Shigure was torn by that voice. "Shigure, don't let him take me away. Please, don't let him take me from my family. I need you."  
  
Shigure crossed his arms until he was nearly hugging himself, but he refused to be moved. 'I will not turn around. This has to be done, no matter how scared he is.' He steadfastly stood with his face at the wall.  
  
The other members of the Junikyu were becoming more and more agitated. Whether they liked Akito or not wasn't the issue. Akito was God and they couldn't just let him be taken away by some stranger.   
  
"Don't interfere." Shigure ordered, trying to make his voice sound stern. It didn't work well. The compulsion to protect their God was an instinct and, to them, this was like a fish learning to fly. Unnatural. "I know what I'm doing." He turned his hard gaze to each of his family, carefully avoiding Akito's eyes. "This has to happen. We don't have any hope but this one chance."  
  
"A most wise decision." Count D commented to Shigure. "I will return your family in two weeks, should all go as planned."  
  
"Make sure it does." Shigure answered. "Because if anything happens to Akito, I'll find you." It was clearly a threat and Shigure meant it. He would try to kill Count D if Akito were harmed. It would be folly on Shigure's part, but if he were the cause of Akito's pain then Shigure would rather be killed by Count D than continue to live.  
  
Count D patted Shigure's arm. "I am certain you will. Now," He turned his attention to Akito. "If you will come with me, I have a car waiting."  
  
"Carry him, Kureno." Shigure ordered. Shigure turned again, making it very clear that he would not help Akito. 'I love him too much to stop this.'  
  
Akito began screaming as soon as Kureno moved to obey Shigure. "NO!" He cried. "You're mine, Kureno! You said you'd always obey me!"  
  
"No." Kureno argued, slipping his arms under Akito and lifting him easily. "I have always obeyed you, but that is not what I promised you. I promised to always protect you and I will protect you no matter where we go."  
  
Akito didn't stop yelling, screaming and begging to be put down. "Don't! Put me down!" Kureno hesitated and Shigure knew what Kureno would be feeling. He wanted to obey Akito.  
  
"Don't listen to him, Kureno. This is for him, we'll save Akito's life." Shigure put a hand to his heart where it suddenly felt like it was beating to rapidly. "You have to go. He'll die if we do nothing."  
  
Hatori stood then, quiet as ever, and went to open the door for Kureno. When he passed Shigure, Hatori paused only to mutter, "I hope you're sure about this."  
  
Shigure met Hatori's eyes and wanted to tell him everything, all the secrets he'd read about in the diary and everything he'd learned from Sofu D. There was no time and this was the only chance that their family had. "Just...just go. You know I'm not lying, so go."  
  
Hatori nodded and led the way, followed closely by Akito and Kureno. Akito screamed so shrilly that he'd worn himself out before he and Kureno had even reached the door and tears of fury, fear, and grief were running freely down his face. When he passed Shigure, Akito glared at him. "I hate you."  
  
Shigure felt his heart shatter. "If you live, I can deal with your hate." It was a lie. Shigure wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and die. What was the point in living if he couldn't be near Akito?  
  
The last to leave was Count D who paused in front of Shigure and examined his face closely, putting a delicate finger to his lips as he thought.  
  
"What?" Shigure asked.  
  
"My petshop is at this address." He pulled a business card out of his billowing robes and handed it to Shigure. "There is a little map on the back. Feel free to visit, if you please. You, and the rest of your family, are more than welcomed. I should tell you to visit the house of the Rooster. I believe your Rooster has hidden something there. Several something's, in fact." Then he turned, also, and left.  
  
"What have you done?" Ayame asked, breathlessly. He looked as confused and frightened as everyone else. "Shigure...?"  
  
Shigure just shrugged, hopelessly. "We have nothing to lose by letting Count D try to save Akito and everything to gain. Come on, Aya. Don't you...don't you trust...me?" Shigure turned slightly and leaned against the wall, his eyes going to the window where he could see a shiny black car parked out front. He saw a man holding the door open for Kureno to get Akito into the car and then get in himself. Then Hatori and lastly went Count D. The car roared to life and sped away.  
  
"Trust?" It was Hiro who'd spoken. "You haven't told us anything to trust. Who was that? Did he know about the curse?"  
  
Shigure didn't answer. Nothing mattered anymore. He'd done it.  
  
"'Gure?" Ayame took Shigure's arm and that was the last straw.  
  
Shigure's knees collapsed and he slid down the wall, landing hard on the floor where he broke into heart-wrenching sobs. 'I betrayed him. I turned my back on Akito.' Without really caring, Shigure turned into a dog and lifted his face to howl mournfully at the world. As far as he was concerned, life was pretty much over. No matter what the reason or the intention, Shigure had betrayed the one person he loved more than anyone else. He didn't care if he ever turned human again.  
  
To be continued...  
  
Dear readers, almost done. We're getting close to the end.  
  
Now, for the replies.  
  
Demeter 1: Sigh...yes, I know I need a beta on this. I'm lousy at catching my own mistakes. Sadly, neither of my dear betas like Fruits Basket, so I haven't asked them to read this fic. I wouldn't want them to waste time reading a fic they don't like. I'll go over the whole fic when I've finished and polish it up a bit. Thanks for the comments, though. Kazuma is one of my favorite characters, too. I think he's supposed to be the oldest about at forty years old, though I've made him quite a good deal younger. He's so calm and mature that you can't dislike him. There seems to be a kind of serenity surrounding him. Yep, I tried to be subtle about Shigure and Akito, but it just popped out there. The relationship between the head of the family and the zodiac family is very complex, as near as I can see. I honestly believe that, deep down and buried under his madness, Akito dearly loves every member of his family.  
  
Harakiri: Pfft! Energizer bunny! Why didn't I think of that? :) Yea! Another gold star. I'll put it right next to the others.  
  
Kechara123: You're quite right. Leon's not going to give up so easily. Shigure's role in the story is revealed in this chapter. It was his purpose to know the history of the family so he would have the information to make a decision like this. He had to override Akito and send him with Count D. Shigure doesn't understand all of what Count D is, but he does know that Count D has the power to heal Akito and, therefore, the whole family. Shigure won't let an opportunity like this pass by, even if it kills him. Shigure is also a buffer in the family, he lets everyone get away from the stress of the Main House, like Yuki and Kyou. He also has been quietly guiding the family for years. He tells Hatori what to do and he can easily manipulate Akito, in most circumstances.  
  
Tanahome: Thanks for the nice review. I'll do my best to correct my errors, promise. I'm sorry that you've lost sleep, but glad you like my writing. I like the cat, too, and I can't wait to see what Kyou's significance in the canon story will be. There MUST be a reason why the creator of Fruits Basket made the cat different from all the other zodiac animals.  
  
Grrl N: I'm glad you liked Hana, she was actually fun to write. I could have fun with Megumi, though.  
  
Mike: Thanks for that enthusiastic review. I'll try to keep them just as good.  
  
Cor-Chan: Glad you like Hana and Megumi. Michael's going to be a bit of a surprise, but not much of one. I needed a chauffeur, as I can't see count D driving his own car, so I thought I'd add something for Yuki in here.  
  
Melchoir: Sorry if you think things are a bit rushed or to slow. I hope you enjoyed it, regardless.  
  
Kireina: Awww...I couldn't let anything bad happen to cute lil' Chris. Well, not anything really bad. Just think how upset Tet-chan would be. And Hon-Ron. Not to mention Leon and D. Well...just about everyone in the petshop. I can't imagine the blood bath if anyone actually did dare to lay hands on our dear Chris.  
  
Fireblazie: Thanks so much for the compliment. I just love Shigure, he's my favorite anime/manga character with the possible exception of Count D.  
  
Sanjuno Shori: Great to hear from you and I'm glad you took the time to review. It sounds like you're really enjoying this story, so I'll do my best to keep up the quality.  
  
Enjen: Thanks, Akito's a fun character to write and he's my second favorite in Fruits Basket, right after Shigure. I think I'd like to do a whole story from his POV, someday.  
  
Twinfin666: You got number 13? Lucky! Actually, I have up to about ten, I think, but, since I can't read Japanese I rely on the internet for most of my information. Now that the English translations of the manga are coming out, I find a lot that I'd write differently if I were starting the story now. Ah well, it's a bit late to go back and changes things now, huh? I didn't know that Rin was a nickname. Huh. I think I like it better than her real name, actually. I like the story of how Rin meets Haru, that sounds like something he'd do :) I wouldn't have guessed Kyou/Tohru. I just always imagined Kyou ending up with Kagura. I think she'd let him go to Tohru, though. She'd know that he would be happy with Tohru, if that's the way the story's going to go. I'd like to see this new person Yuki's interested in. That should add a new spin to the story. I knew about Rin being pushed out the window and about her talking to Shigure about something, but only from the Internet translations. I really didn't know the details, but I was able to come up with some pretty logical guesses from what I read of forums. I didn't know about Kureno sleeping with Akito. YEA! I can't wait to see that pic! I think I'll crawl off and die of happiness as I picture that. Thanks so much! 


	24. To sleep, perchance to dream

While looking back at this story, I realized that I've given nearly every member of the Souma Zodiac a role where they tell the story from their point of view. It might only have been a little role, like Kisa and Hiro, but they have had a chance to have their say. I seem to have forgotten a very important character, however. Kagura! My favorite little piggy. I don't care what anyone says, I like Kagura.  
  
By the way, someone just let me know that Rin is NOT Rin's real name. Her real name is Isuzu and Rin's just a nickname. Isn't that interesting? Learn something new everyday.  
  
Chapter 24: To Sleep, Perchance to dream...  
  
Tohru-  
  
"Yuki," Tohru said, tugging on his sleeve as soon as Count D had left them alone in the parlor. "What are we going to do? We can't leave Kyou here and if we try to take him home..." Tohru couldn't even finish her thought. It was just too painful to think of Kyou dying. That was what Count D had said would happen if they tried to disturb Kyou's at all. He would die. After what Tohru had seen happen to Kyou back at Shigure's house, she didn't doubt it at all. He'd been so badly hurt.  
  
Yuki patted Tohru's hand kindly, though his eyes were narrowed and had a distant look, as though he were thinking deeply. "I know. Please, don't worry. We'll think of something." He smiled reassuring at Tohru. "Why don't we start by finding him? You've seen him so we know he's here somewhere. Count D even admitted that he's here. I suppose it can't take too long to search this store." From the look on his face, Yuki was probably thinking the same thing as Tohru. The corridors in the Petshop were so long and winding that it was like trying to find your way through a maze. Finding Kyou was likely not going to be as simple a task as it sounded.  
  
Tohru jumped to her feet, determination filling her. "Well, let's go!" She said. "Kyou's depending on us. Oh, do you think we should try to call Shigure to let him know where we are? He might be worried."  
  
Yuki shook his head. "Shigure's gone to the estate and I don't think he's well, either. He was sounding very odd when I spoke to him last. Shigure can take care of himself for a while; it's Kyou that we have to worry about. We don't know for certain that Count D is even telling us the truth, after all. Kyou could be a prisoner here." Yuki's expression darkened at that. "Let's go, but please stay close to me, Honda-san. I don't want to lose you again."  
  
They stuck close to each other, for fear of being separated, as they ventured into the halls, every mindful of the strange and potentially dangerous 'people' who lived in the petshop. Tohru wasn't exactly sure why it was called a petshop, she'd seen no animals since she'd woken up here. Of course, Ten-chan had turned into a fox and Tohru was a bird, it turned out. Maybe everyone here were animals and it was just hard to tell who was what. Reality seemed flexible in this place.  
  
'I can accept that I'm not human.' Tohru thought. 'It's not so bad being a bird. I've been myself all my life and nothing's really changed. Souma-kun doesn't treat me any differently and I'm sure Kyou-kun won't either. Once we find him, that is.' It was hard, when Tohru had first found out that she wasn't human, but it did make a lot of things more clear. Why she didn't look anything like her mom and why her mom had always seemed afraid that someone would come and steal Tohru away. It was better to know the truth. Truth was always better than a lie, not that Tohru blamed her mom for anything. It was just a little lie and didn't change the fact that her mom loved her.  
  
They walked and walked, peeking into many of the rooms and even going into a few. They actually met a few people, though Yuki was cautious about everyone and kept them at a safe distance. They met a little girl who asked after Hatori, saying that she wanted to see him again. They ran across Ten-chan who actually threw his arms around Tohru and hugged her until Yuki pulled her away from him.  
  
Ten-chan had laughed merrily at that and said to Tohru, in a mock whisper, "My, but he's protective, isn't he? A fine catch you've made."  
  
Tohru frowned, puzzled. "Catch?"  
  
Before Ten-chan could explain, Yuki pulled her away with a faint blush on his cheeks as they listened to Ten-chan's laughter fade away. "Come see me later, little birdy! I'm around and everyone knows where to find me. Tell me about your mousy."  
  
Yuki scowled at that, even as they turned another corner and Ten-chan's voice faded away. "Does everyone know what we are here?"  
  
"Who knows? What do you think he meant by 'catch'?"  
  
"He's only teasing you, Honda-san." Yuki said tightly. "Talking nonsense and..." Yuki's voice faded away and he stared at a door they'd come to. "Kyou's here." He said, pointing at the door.  
  
"Are you sure?" Tohru asked. There was nothing different about this door, it looked just like every other door they'd come across since entering Count D's petshop. "How can you tell?"  
  
"I-I don't know." Yuki's frown deepened and they went to the door, but just when Yuki's hand touched the door, they both heard a tittering laughter and looked around. On both sides of them, half hidden in the darkness of the halls, they saw eyes watching them. As soon as they looked, though, the eyes all vanished and the laughter was silenced. Yuki and Tohru exchanged a worried look, but went on as if they hadn't seen or heard anything. Really, it would do no good to go chasing laughter in the darkness, not when Kyou was so close. "I know he's here." He pushed open the door and poked his head inside. "Oh, my..." Yuki went all the way inside, allowing Tohru to follow him.  
  
"I don't understand." Tohru said in bewilderment. "Where are we?" It looked as if they'd gone from the dark labyrinth of the petshop into a pristine mountain wilderness. Everything around them was green and the sky was a brighter blue than Tohru had ever seen. It was obviously in the mountains, the soaring peaks of a neighboring mountaintop could be seen, purple in the daylight. The sun was real, it warmed Tohru's face. How could this be? "This...can't be right. Can it?"  
  
"I don't think we can take anything for granted, Honda-san. There's a cabin, let's start there." He began to walk, but both Yuki and Tohru noticed something as they drew closer to the cabin. On the grass, just in front of the little cabin, there was a large shape laying on the grass.  
  
When they were close enough to see what, or rather, who it was, Tohru and Yuki both put on a burst of speed. "Kyou!" Tohru cried when they finally reached him. Tohru had only seen Kyou like this, in his original shape, once. He didn't look nearly so horrifying now. Kyou was fast asleep and looked almost peaceful as he lay on the ground. There was something different, though. "Is he all right?" Tohru asked Yuki who had squatted down to looked at Kyou more closely.  
  
"He's breathing." Yuki answered, looking at the rise and fall of Kyou's massive chest. Yuki reached for Kyou's wrist. "His flesh if very hard, like an exoskeleton, I don't know if I'll be able to even find his pulse, but..."   
  
"No!" Tohru seized Yuki's hand, preventing him from touching Kyou. "We can't touch him, remember? Count D said Kyou could die if he's disturbed. He's breathing so his heart must be beating."   
  
Yuki huffed irritably, but put his hands on his knees where he wouldn't touch Kyou. "This is impossible! We can't do anything for him here and we can't wake him without the risk of killing him. What's he doing here anyway?" Yuki began to look around until his eyes fell on something. "The bracelet!" Yuki sprang to his feet and ran to the cabin where there was a little table sitting outside. On the little, rude table was Kyou's black and white bracelet. Though, unless Tohru was much mistaken, the black beads of the bracelet actually looked like a shade of dark red. "The question is," Yuki said when he came back to Tohru, rubbing his fingers on the beads of the bracelet. "Did Kyou deliberately take it off or was it taken from him?"  
  
"Do you really think he'd take it off by choice? Kazuma-san had to take it from him the last time and I think Kyou trusts Kazuma-san more than anyone. Kyou always treated it like a treasure." Tohru looked down at Kyou and something caught her eyes. Covering Kyou's dark body were a great many tiny threads. They were so fine that they looked almost like a fine covering of spider webs all over Kyou.  
  
"I don't know." Yuki answered, still running his fingers over the beads of the bracelet. "So many strange things have happened today that I'm not sure what's going on anymore. If someone took the bracelet from Kyou, then why would they just put it over there? Wouldn't they have taken it? And why leave Kyou like this when he'd just wake up on his own and take his bracelet? Count D never did tell us WHY Kyou's a guest here."  
  
"Souma-kun, what's this stuff?" Tohru indicated the threads all over Kyou. The threads reminded Tohru of spider silk or like the threads of a chrysalis.   
  
Yuki bent down to look closely at Kyou's body. He went so close to Kyou, in fact, that his nose nearly touched Kyou's arm. "Did you notice?"  
  
"Notice what?"  
  
"The smell. There's no smell."   
  
Tohru realized that Yuki was right. Kyou's original form had a smell so horrible, before, that Tohru had thrown up from the stench. In his original form, Kyou smelled like rotting corpses. Now, only inches from Kyou they couldn't smell a thing.  
  
Kyou's skin looked like a black mirror covered in a fine coat of cobwebs. The cobweb stuff was increasing as they watched. "It's like spider silk. I'm not sure what it is. If I didn't know better, Honda-san, I would say that this...stuff...if coming from Kyou. Look closely. I'd swear that it's growing out of his body."  
  
Tohru did as Yuki bid and bent down until her eyes were only inches from Kyou's glossy skin and she saw what Yuki was seeing. The tiny, hair-like threads were growing directly from Kyou's body. "But," Tohru sat up and realized how quickly the threads were covering Kyou's body. "If it keeps up like this, he'll be completely covered in just a little while. He'll be smothered!" Tohru only just resisted the temptation to start wiping the threads off Kyou by the echoing warning of Count D. That Kyou would die if he were disturbed.  
  
"I don't think so." Yuki argued, thoughtfully. "It's coming from his own body. While I'm not sure what, exactly, it is, I'm pretty sure that if Kyou's body is producing it, it wouldn't hurt him. I think our best course of action would be to just wait. We won't know anything until he wakes up and we can't wake him up without risking his life." Yuki sighed and sat down on the grass, crossing his legs. "I think we're stuck. There is no other solution other than to wait until Kyou wakes up and who knows how long that'll be?" Yuki slipped Kyou's bracelet into his pants pocket and bowed his head slightly as he patiently waited.  
  
Tohru didn't like waiting, not when Kyou's safety was in question. She knew Yuki was right, though. There was nothing else they could do. So Tohru settled herself on the grass and, together with Yuki, she watched over Kyou's body. It was rather an awkward silence. Tohru wanted to talk to Yuki, but really didn't know what to say. She had so many questions, but Yuki didn't know anything more than she did. Besides, Yuki didn't seem inclined to talk. He had a kind of distant expression on his face, as if he were thinking deeply.  
  
For hours they waited until,  
  
"He's nearly covered now." Yuki said. They had watched over the hours as the threads continued to grow and now they were all over Kyou so much that it was nearly impossible to see him under all of it. In all that time, Kyou hadn't so much as moved a muscle except for his slow, steady breathing. "Do you suppose he's all right in there?"  
  
"Oh, yes! He just has to be." Tohru insisted, hating to think otherwise. It was always best to believe in happiest outcome and that would be that Kyou would wake up soon and just shake that stuff off himself and that they would go home.  
  
"You're worried for him." It seemed like a strange thing for Yuki to say, so Tohru looked at him a little more carefully. Yuki still had that far away, thoughtful look on his face.  
  
"Of course I am." Tohru answered. "Who knows what's happening to him in there? What if he's in pain or scared? Aren't you worried for him?" Tohru knew she shouldn't be surprised if Yuki declared that he didn't care what happened to Kyou; he'd said that sort of thing often enough in the past. Yuki and Kyou were always so adamant that they hated each other.  
  
"I worry for that idiot cat, too. I suppose." Yuki said it in a hushed voice, as if he were shamed to admit it. "He is irritatingly hot-headed, a more stubborn person could not exist. I think he is a fool for many reasons, but, I hate to say, Kyou is not an idiot. Kyou is smart and hard working."  
  
Tohru was pleasantly amazed. In the midst of all the horrible things that were happening, something good had come out of it! Tohru couldn't have been happier, but before she could tell Yuki how happy she was that he had at least a little more understanding for Kyou, Yuki spoke again.   
  
"Kyou doesn't scare easily. You really needn't worry about him so much." He seemed very uncomfortable. "Kyou was right, you worry to much about other people and not enough about yourself. Have you decided what you're going to do? Now that you're...well..."  
  
"A bird? I'm not really sure. I like my life the way it is. I don't see any reason to change." Tohru thought about it, as she had been since she'd found out what she was. She wasn't really sure that she wanted to stay with Count D, in all honesty. He seemed like a nice person and she liked Ten-chan, but it was all so different from home. Tohru didn't even know if being taught how to be a nightingale meant that she would have to leave Shigure's house and live at the petshop or if she could keep going to school. Would learning to be a bird mean that she would have to give up her entire human life? All her friends? Maybe she was just being a coward. Wouldn't it be lovely to be able to fly? How beautiful it would be to see the world from so high above. Tohru also wouldn't be such a burden on Shigure if she came to live at the petshop and she was pretty sure that Shigure would like to have her out from underfoot. Change wasn't always bad. Then again, it wasn't always good, either. "I suppose I'll have to think about it."  
  
Yuki nodded and looked back at Kyou. "Whatever's going on, it must be getting close to the end." He commented. They could no longer see Kyou's body under all the layers of silvery threads. "It looks like his body isn't making so much of those threads anymore. It reminds me of something." Yuki frowned as he tried to remember. "Something I've seen before."  
  
"Like a cocoon?" Tohru guessed. That was what it reminded her of. Like a butterfly's cocoon. "Do you suppose that's what it could be?"  
  
Yuki didn't answer. By now, Kyou was completely wrapped in the white threads. The surface of the cocoon looked entirely smooth; it was long and shaped something like an oversized football, but there was no doubt that it did resemble a gigantic butterfly's cocoon.   
  
At the Souma Estate-  
  
Kagura-  
  
It was well known that when under a great deal of physical or emotional stress, it was possible for the Zodiac cursed to transform without being hugged by a member of the opposite sex. While this didn't happen often (everyone was very used to stress just by being one of the cursed) Shigure's sudden transformation into a dog was proof of it. No matter what his reasons for his betrayal were, Shigure was upset by what he'd done. More than upset, really. He was nearly destroyed by it and that frightened Kagura more than she would admit. Shigure had always been so strong that it hurt Kagura to see him like this.  
  
It was so hard to believe what had just happened. Akito was gone. Not just gone, but given away by, of all people, Shigure. Kagura felt her heart beating a mile a minute and she put both hands to her mouth, trying to control herself.  
  
"I knew it."  
  
Everyone turned to look at the one who'd spoken, Rin. She was still injured from her 'fall' from the bathhouse window, but Rin had always been stubborn and now stood slowly to set her cold glare on Shigure, still in his dog form. Rin had never been the most forgiving of people and her eyes showed that she wouldn't be ready to forgive Shigure anytime soon for the betrayal of the family.  
  
Shigure the dog didn't even look at Rin, but lay down and set his head on the floor. Pathetic whines escaped his throat.  
  
"Don't try that!" Rin snapped, jabbing her sharp, black painted fingernail at Shigure. "I don't feel sorry for you! You knew all along and you lied about it! That book! It wasn't some manuscript, was it? You filthy, stinking liar! You knew!" Each exclamation Rin spit out, stepping closer and close to Shigure. "We depended on you, remember? Everyone trusted you to take care of Yuki and Kyou. You kept Akito from getting too out of hand. We TRUSTED you, how could you do this to us!?"  
  
Ayame tried to soothe her temper and stepped between Rin and Shigure, subtly protecting Shigure if he needed it. "What are you talking about, Rin-chan? 'Gure wouldn't do anything to hurt us. I'm sure he knows what he's doing and if that man can help Akito..."  
  
Rin scoffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder with an angry toss of her head. "Fool!" She met Ayame's eyes and her hands clenched at her sides. "He's your best friend and you don't have any clue about what he's done. Shigure knew what had happened to us all, he knew how and why we were cursed and he never told us. Now, just when Akito's dying, he turns on us all."  
  
"'Gure must have had his reasons. It's in everyone's best interests for Akito to survive. Of course Akito was scared to leave us, but if he lives it'll be better for the whole family. Akito can't think clearly, we all know that." Ayame said.  
  
"I don't care about his reasons!" Rin shouted, so angry that she looked as if she might strike Ayame. "You're blind to anything he does, Ayame. He kept this from us! You think he did this for the good of the family? Ha! We could have been working on a way to find a cure and he kept all his precious information to himself. Selfish, greedy animal!" It was the worst insult on Zodiac cursed could give to another. They all hated being called animals. "You had to have your power, didn't you, Shigure? Did it make you feel good to know something the rest of us didn't? Maybe that's why Akito always listened to you; did he know you knew something about the curse? Did you keep yourself close to him by telling him that you'd one day tell him the secret?"  
  
"That's cruel." Kisa spoke up, just loud enough for everyone to hear her. "Grampa Shigure wouldn't do something bad."  
  
Rin snorted. "You're a child, Kisa. You don't know anything."  
  
"Don't talk to Kisa like that!" Hiro, possibly the only Souma who could out argue Rin, jumped to Kisa's defense. "I didn't see you racing to keep Akito here. What right do you have to criticize Shigure for anything he does?"  
  
"I'll talk anyway I please, boya!" Rin, while even she wouldn't yell at sweet Kisa, had no compunction against yelling at Hiro. Everyone knew Hiro could and would yell right back. "You're a child yourself, so don't you raise your voice to me! Why don't you two go play with dolls or something while the grown-ups talk?"  
  
Hiro's face tightened at being spoken to like that and he sucked in a deep breath, ready to respond with fire and venom, his own pride pricked as well as the insult done to Kisa.  
  
All this time, the rest of the cursed watched the confrontation between the three and didn't move. Shigure didn't even try to defend himself, his normally glib tongue silent. He just lay there whining like a beaten dog, staring into empty space.  
  
"Kagura,"  
  
Kagura turned and saw Ritsu looking at her with worried eyes. It amazed Kagura that through all this mess Ritsu hadn't once broken down with one of his normal anxiety attacks. It was Ritsu who'd had taken him back to his house after the attack outside the estate. It was Ritsu who'd made all the calls to the Junikyu and had sat by Akito's side until everyone started arriving. All that time, though all the fear and stress, Ritsu had controlled himself remarkably well. Now that he was no longer responsible for what was going on and no longer in command, as it were, Ritsu looked ready to break down. "Yes?" Kagura kept her voice quite, hoping that it would reassure Ritsu at least a little bit.  
  
"Is this my fault?" Ritsu looked at Kagura with big, frightened eyes.  
  
"Of course not!" Kagura took his hand and squeezed it, comfortingly. "You didn't do anything wrong, it just...happened."  
  
Ritsu didn't seem convinced and looked back at Rin, Ayame, and Shigure. Rin and Hiro were still yelling and Ayame looked as if even he were losing his temper with Rin. Ayame rarely lost his temper, but with the stress they were all under and the fact that he was defending Shigure while Hatori had gone off to who knows where, it was understandable that Ayame's temper would begin to fray. "Are you sure it wasn't me?" Ritsu's voice caught in his throat. "Should I have done something differently?"  
  
Rin whirled around suddenly. "It wasn't your fault, idiot!" She snapped at Ritsu. "It's all Shigure's fault and he's not even man enough to own up to what he's done to us all. I read it all in that book of his, most of it, anyway. Just a day or so ago I found a diary in Shigure's house, telling all about how the curse was put on our family and he lied right to my face, telling me some crap about it being a new book he was writing. Now he comes along and sends Akito off with the person responsible for the curse in the first place! Yeah, he could make it all better and it'll be like we're a normal family, but he could make everything a thousand times worse!" Her eyes went to each member of the family. "Don't you get it? Shigure's been lying to all of us for years and now he's doomed us. Who knows what's going to happen now? How much does that guy know about us, huh?" This last she asked Shigure. "He knows about the curse, he must. He's the one that cursed us. We're all in danger." Rin began to cough slightly and her hand splattered lightly with blood when she covered her mouth. "He'll kill us or sell us, some scientist is going to dissect us."  
  
Kagura had never seen Rin so frighteningly angry before and Rin had been living with Kagura's family for quite some time. She knew Rin wasn't the most affable of people, but Rin was intelligent and usually found ways around yelling and screaming like this. Lying? Shigure wouldn't have lied to all of them, would he? It was true that Shigure liked telling stories, he was a writer and what was a writer if not a storyteller? Still, to tell a lie that would hurt the family? It seemed unthinkable. Shigure had always been so unfailingly loyal.  
  
Shigure didn't deny what Rin said.  
  
Rin turned back to Shigure, not paying any attention to Ayame, who stood between them. "You should die, dog." Rin spat the words. "Akito was right, for once. You've betrayed him and us." Something inside Rin snapped and she flew at Shigure. "Die!" Both of her hands were raised up over her head and it was very clear that, given the chance, she WOULD kill Shigure.  
  
Fortunately, Ayame was more than capable of restraining Rin. He grabbed her around the waist as she tried to rush passed him and held her easily. "Stop it!" Ayame commanded. "This isn't helping!"  
  
Kicking and screaming bloody murder, Rin either didn't hear or just didn't care. She tried everything to get away from Ayame including stomping on his slipper-clad feet with her stiletto-heeled boots. "Let me go, he's..."  
  
"You're going to hurt yourself." It was Hatsuharu who'd spoken, standing for the first time. He walked to Rin with his hands in his pockets and looked out at her from his lazy eyes. It was a good sign that he hadn't yet gone black.  
  
Kagura shifted her weight and let go of Ritsu's hand, hoping that he could hold himself together for just a little bit longer. If needed, Kagura could help Ayame to restrain Rin. Rin wasn't a fighter, but she was very tenacious and could be a handful, especially since they didn't want to actually hurt her. They couldn't count on Hatsuharu to help with Rin, he'd never do anything that might hurt her.  
  
"Do you think it really matters?" Rin stopped struggling in Ayame's arms as soon as Hatsuharu had spoken. Kagura wasn't entirely sure what it was that went on between Hatsuharu and Rin, but they'd been close for more than two years. Long ago, it was thought that Hatsuharu would make a play for Yuki, he'd always had a terrible crush on Yuki, but it seemed that lately Hatsuharu was spending more and more time with Rin. "We'll all die now because of Shigure. You didn't read what I read. That...that monster that took Akito, he was the one who put the curse on us all. We used to be something different, we weren't even human in the beginning. Who knows what we'll turn into once that monster is done experimenting on Akito."  
  
Hatsuharu put his hands on Rin's arms. "Something different, huh? I think we've always been different. Shigure had his reasons and if you stop yelling at him maybe he'll tell us what they are. Rin, you just got out of the hospital and Hatori didn't even want you to come home, yet. He never got around to telling us what was wrong with you, but even I know that falling out a third story window isn't good. You had to have two blood transfusions; you're still very pale, you know." Hatsuharu pulled Rin into his arms and hugged her tightly. "Calm yourself down, Rin. You're no good like this." He didn't let go even when Rin started trying to pull against him, pushing back into Ayame who must have seemed far less threatening.   
  
Kagura knew Rin very well and she knew that nothing intimidated Rin so much as someone who could love her no matter what she said or did, like Hatsuharu.  
  
"I told you before, I don't want you touching me anymore! I don't even want you near me, now let me go!" Rin snapped at Hatsuharu with her best angry voice and her dark eyes narrowed.  
  
"No." Hatsuharu answered softly. "I walked away from you earlier so I could get my temper back, not because I was leaving you. I love you."  
  
"I don't want you, not like this!" Rin managed to pull away and looked straight into Hatsuharu's face. "It's only going to hurt more. What if it's you who gets pushed out the next window, huh? You think I could live with that? Well, I couldn't! If you die, I'm not strong enough to live with that pain!"  
  
It was such an intimate conversation that Kagura was forced to look away. She really thought that this was something they should be talking about in private. All this talk of love brought to mind the object of Kagura's affection, Kyou. He wasn't here and that worried her deeply. Kyou never really felt welcomed at family gatherings, but in this case, Akito had specifically called for everyone to come and even Kyou wouldn't have disobeyed that command. So, where were he and Yuki?  
  
When she looked away, Kagura saw that Shigure was quietly leaving the house, unnoticed, and that Ritsu, with a small piece of paper in one hand was leaving, also. Ritsu had somehow gotten away from Kagura's side without being noticed and it was at times like these that Kagura was reminded that Ritsu could be quiet when he wanted to be.  
  
'Count D gave Shigure that paper before he left. He said that was where we could see Akito. What's Ritsu up to? He can't be thinking of...he's not going there alone, is he?' Kagura watched for a moment while Ritsu snuck out of the room, the paper clenched tightly in his hand. No one had yet noticed Ritsu or Shigue leaving except Kagura, they were all to busy watching Rin and Hatsuharu. 'He IS going there alone.' If this Count D was anywhere as dangerous as everyone seemed to think he was, then Kagura decided she just couldn't allow Ritsu to go off on his own. He would need someone to look after him.  
  
It would have been good to be able to take everyone along, after all there were safety in numbers, but everyone was still fighting and they probably wouldn't even listen to Kagura if she tried to speak to them. What good would they do all angry and frightened, anyway?  
  
Once outside Akito's house, Kagura began following Ritsu who was walking very quickly towards the main gate.  
  
"Kagura-kun."  
  
Sitting just next to the doorway of Akito's house was Shigure, looking at her for the first time since he'd let Akito be taken away. "Shigure, what's going on?" Kagura squatted down to look him in the face. She was surprised that he still hadn't changed back to human and wondered exactly how upset he was about what had happened.  
  
"Lots of things." Shigure sighed. "Too many things. Akito is going to be healed, I believe. I know its hard for everyone, but I don't know how else to do this. That man didn't curse us, Kagura. His father did. He's trying to fix what his father did."  
  
"You believe that?" Kagura asked, skeptically. It was very difficult to lie to Shigure; he was too skilled at it to be fooled. If Shigure really believed, then it was most likely the truth. Kyou spoke about Shigure a lot when he was with Kagura and even Kyou, who wasn't always the best judge of character, had to admit that Shigure was very clever. Maybe he was a little too clever. Kyou didn't trust Shigure, not one little bit. Of course, Kyou was far too honest to even understand Shigure. Kyou really couldn't understand anyone who wasn't as brutally honest as he was. That was probably why Kyou liked Tohru, she was honest in the extreme and the only lie Kagura had ever known Tohru to tell were the ones she told on behalf of the Souma family. "Shigure, do you trust this man?"  
  
Shigure didn't answer at first and thought for a moment. "Maybe...maybe I just WANT to believe. He's also the only hope we have. Rin was right. I did keep many secrets from the family, but I did have good cause. Maybe I was right and maybe I was wrong, but that doesn't really matter anymore. What matters now is that nearly half our family is with Count D and at his mercy. I honestly don't know what he's capable of, but I couldn't just let Akito die. I couldn't just watch."  
  
The despair in Shigure's voice was so honest that Kagura was speechless. She suddenly realized that maybe there was more than just loyalty that tied Shigure so fiercely to Akito.  
  
"Go after Ritsu, Kagura-kun." Shigure looked to where Ritsu had vanished though the houses and was no doubt nearing the main gates. "He'll need some help. Besides, Kyou's with Count D, too."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Yes. Kyou, Yuki, and Tohru are all with Count D. It seems that Kyou has some important task. The Cat is far more important to our family than anyone had guessed." Shigure nudged her with his muzzle. "Go on."  
  
"Why aren't you going?" Kagura asked. "Don't you want to be with Akito?"  
  
"I'm the last person he wants to see. Go now."  
  
If she knew her darling Kyou, then he was bound to be in the middle of this whole mess and he was going to need her. Where Kyou was, Yuki was likely to be. Where Yuki and Kyou were, Tohru would be. She would have to help them if she could.   
  
Kagura rose to her feet, but paused for a moment before she turned and hugged Shigure tightly around the next. "We still need you, Shigure. Rin's angry, but she's usually angry." Kagura pulled back and met Shigure's still grieving eyes. "We all need you so don't do anything stupid." Kagura didn't ask why Shigure didn't turn back human; his sadness was still too unbearable. This sort of thing happened to them all from time to time. Kisa turned into a tiger when she'd stopped talking and they'd had to keep her confined to the estate for nearly a week. Kyou had been in his cat form after his mother's suicide, after Shigure had found him and the reality of what had happened sunk in. In fact, Kyou had turned back into a human just in time for the funeral.  
  
Shigure just looked at Kagura with his large eyes and she didn't think he believed her. 'What should I do?' In this state, Shigure was very likely to hurt himself or even to kill himself. Kagura didn't want to leave him alone, but she absolutely HAD to go after Ritsu and find Kyou.  
  
"You shouldn't worry about me." Shigure told her softly. "I'll be all right. I'm going to Kureno's house to see what he's hidden there. Count D said I should go there before he left and I have nothing else to do. Aya will track me down in a little bit, if he doesn't start turning the city upside-down to find Ha-san."  
  
Kagura didn't hesitate any longer before she took off. Shigure was right. Ayame was very tenacious when it came to Hatori and Shigure; he'd take care of Shigure for now. Ritsu would need to be protected from Count D (he sounded very dangerous) and Kagura would probably have to help the others, too. Tohru couldn't protect herself and, if they were prisoners of Count D, Kagura would have to help Yun-kun and Kyou.  
  
Ritsu-  
  
While everyone was arguing and Rin was yelling at Hiro, Ritsu crept away from where he'd been sitting next to Kagura. Going slowly around the perimeter of the room, Ritsu managed to get to Shigure without being noticed. It wasn't all that surprising. Everyone was to busy yelling and watching Hatsuharu and Rin to bother about Ritsu. He didn't mind. He was really much more comfortable when no one was looking at him.  
  
"Shigure, are you all right?" Ritsu asked quietly. He wanted very much to scream how sorry he was, but in all the noise no one was likely to even hear him so what good would it do? This time, no one could argue that the whole mess wasn't Ritsu's fault, no matter how nice Kagura had tried to be. He was the one who'd gone traveling and met Count D. He was the one who had brought Leon, and therefore Count D, right to the Souma's. Ritsu had practically delivered the Souma family right into Count D's hands and, for once, Ritsu was determined to fix his mistake instead of screaming about it. That's what Ayame would want him to do. It was strange, though.  
  
Shigure, still in the shape of the black dog, looked balefully at Ritsu but didn't answer.  
  
"It-it's okay if you don't want to talk to me." Ritsu couldn't help the tears that leaked out of his eyes, but he was able to hold himself together other than that. "I know it's my fault all this happened. I met him before, you see. I met Count D in America. I'm so sorry." Ritsu couldn't hold back any longer and began to cry. "Please, forgive me, Shigure. I didn't know any of this would happen. I'll kill myself if it'll help, I really will. If I hadn't been so selfish and gone off on a trip I wouldn't have met him and this wouldn't have happened. Please, just beat me and..."  
  
"What good would that do?" Shigure whispered. No one else heard him speak. "If I beat you what problems would it solve? No, this isn't your fault, Ritsu. Even if you were the first to meet him, you couldn't stop him from doing what he wanted to do. None of us could. The only thing that happened was that he found us sooner rather than later." Shigure lay his head down on his forelegs again. "Rin's right. I was lying to all of you and I did it on purpose. I'm not at all sorry. Do you hate me for that? Don't answer, it doesn't matter. Nothing matters anymore. I wonder if anything we ever did mattered at all." Shigure stood up slowly and left the room.  
  
Then, the real fighting began. Everyone began arguing at once, Rin shouting at both Hatsuharu and Ayame for restraining her while Shigure got away. Hiro yelled at Rin for shouting and scaring Kisa. Kisa was crying and Kagura looked like she was in shock.  
  
There was a white card on the floor and Ritsu picked it up, knowing that it was the card Count D had given to Shigure. It seemed that with all the anger and fear going on, everyone had forgotten the business card. There was no name on the business card, but it read:  
  
Turn left at the grocers on Main Street. Three blocks west. Go to the bookseller's and go down the alley just to the right. Take the door on your left.  
  
Ritsu stole out of Akito's house while everyone was yelling at each other. Ritsu hated seeing his family like that, angry.  
  
'Maybe I can fix everything. If I find Akito and...' And then what? Shigure, Hatori, and Kureno had all agreed that Akito would go with Count D, so who was Ritsu to think that they were wrong? In point of fact, Ritsu did NOT think they were wrong. He thought it was a very good idea to have someone heal Akito and if Count D could do it, then all the better. From what he'd seen when he'd met Count D in America, he liked the man. Ritsu also trusted Shigure to know what was best and if Shigure thought Akito should go with Count D, then he was probably right. Ritsu's whole idea was that he should talk to Count D and find out what was going on. If he could tell the family what was happening, then everyone would stop being angry with Shigure. Then all the yelling would stop.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?"  
  
Ritsu yelped with surprise at the voice and whirled around to find Kagura looking at him. "I'm so sorry!" Ritsu wailed. "I'm not trying to sneak away, well not really. Did I take you away from the family? You can go back if you want, I don't need any help! I'm not hiding anything, why are you looking at me like that!?"  
  
Kagura rolled her eyes as Ritsu began to panic more and more before she finally poked him in the ribs and he fell limply to the ground.  
  
'I hate it when they do that!' Ritsu thought as he collected himself and slowly stood up. Was it really fair that they always do that? It hurt like anything! 'No,' Ritsu rebuked himself. 'She had to, it's the only way they can control me.' Still, it did hurt quite a bit and Ritsu wondered if they knew it hurt him.  
  
"I asked where are you going?" Kagura repeated herself even as she helped Ritsu to stand again. Her eyes went pointedly to the business card in Ritsu's hand. "You're going to find Count D?"  
  
"Well, yes. I just thought...if we all knew what was going on it might be easier on everyone and Shigure's not talking to anyone, really. I suppose it's a stupid idea, but I thought that...well...maybe if Count D could give us some answers, then..."  
  
Kagura smiled brightly and gave Ritsu a kiss on the cheek. "That's a great idea, Rit! I'll go with you."  
  
"What?" Ritsu blurted out when Kagura snatched the business card from his hand and closed the distance to the front gate.  
  
"Come on, Rit!" Kagura called over her shoulder. "I know you're faster than you look, so shake a leg!"  
  
"Oh, no! I didn't want to involve you..."   
  
Kagura wasn't listening and already half way to the front gate. Ritsu had to follow and hoped he hadn't gotten Kagura into something dangerous. Count D must be dangerous, Shigure hadn't denied any of that, so what if Kagura got hurt trying to help him. "Kagura, wait!" Ritsu began running as fast as he could to catch up and soon found himself running at a pace with Kagura. If there was one thing Ritsu could do, he could run.  
  
Unfortunately, Ritsu couldn't run nearly so fast as he normally could. His wounds from the attack in America were still very painful, but Kagura kindly slowed her pace so they could stay together.  
  
"Don't you start apologizing for anything, Rit." Kagura told him, not even the least bit out of breath from the running. "I'm doing this of my own free will and you know you can't stop me when I get going. Stubborn, that's what everyone says about me. My Kyou's with Count D, Shigure told me so. I'm not leaving him alone. He'll get himself into trouble without me."  
  
Kagura was right about what people said about her, she was stubborn. Not that Ritsu would say that to Kagura's face. The whole family said that Kagura was the most stubborn member of the family with the possible exception of Yuki and Kyou's religious like dedication to their foreordained feud. Once she set her mind on it, there was no stopping Kagura.  
  
"I just don't know...well, this person might be dangerous and you're far to important to be put in danger. I'm not at all important and no one would miss me, so..."  
  
Kagura skid to a stop and put her hands on her hips as she set her hard gaze on Ritsu. "What are you talking about? You won't be missed? Don't you think Ayame might just get a little bit upset if you up and vanish? What about your mother? I know you aren't so heartless that you'd cause her pain, right? Your mother gets so upset about everything that if anything happened to you, she might end up hurting herself in grief. That's a terribly selfish attitude, Rit." Kagura reached out and touched the side of Ritsu's face, where the bruise was still painfully evident. "Isn't that why you've been staying at the estate since you got home? Your mother still thinks you're in America, doesn't she?"  
  
"If she saw my face..." Kagura was right, Ritsu hadn't seen his mother since he'd gotten back to Japan. If she saw how he'd been hurt in America, Ritsu was sure she'd start crying and he hated to see her cry. It had only been a couple of days since the attack; of course the bruise was still just as purple and swollen as before. He would go see her as soon as the bruise faded away and he could tell her a harmless lie, that he'd fallen or tripped. He was clumsy; everyone knew that so he would be believed and Hatori wouldn't tell her what had really happened. Maybe. Ayame would if he thought it was in Ritsu's best interests, but so far he'd promised not to.  
  
Cause his mother pain? The thought of it made Ritsu want to cry. How could Kagura ask something like that? It was to protect his mother's fragile feelings that Ritsu hadn't gone home to the hot springs. She'd always been there for him and Ritsu hadn't forgotten when he was little and his mother had tried to protect him from his father by putting her own body in the way as a shield. Now that his father was gone, thanks to both Ayame and Akito, Ritsu's mother worked very hard at the hot springs. He owed his mother everything, she was always so understanding for all his faults and...and Kagura was getting ahead of him again.   
  
"Kagura, wait for me!"  
  
On the road-  
  
Akito-  
  
Akito didn't enjoy the ride at all and he made every protest he could, not that he could do much. With his entire body useless and now even his face starting to feel numb, Akito knew it wouldn't be long. And this...this was all Shigure's fault!  
  
'I never thought he'd...' Akito tried not to think about it, but there was very little else he could do as he stare out the black tinted windows of the car. Shigure had betrayed him and that had hurt more than anything else Akito could imagine. It had hurt when Yuki and Kyou didn't bother showing up for New Years and it hurt when the family had begun to love that strange, frightening girl, Honda Tohru, but nothing had ever hurt like this. 'I depended on him too much. He shouldn't have done that. I thought he loved me. He said he did.'  
  
Do you love me, Shigure? Do you love me as much as you love Ayame and Hatori?  
  
Of course I do.  
  
Akito had always taken those words to heart and he'd meant what he'd said just shortly after.  
  
I think I love you because I do. Akito was only a child at the time, but it didn't matter. Shigure had always been there for him and, even after he left the estate, Shigure was always the first to come running if Akito called. Now Akito knew it had all been another game to Shigure, just like all Shigure's lies and stories. It was just a game and in the end, he'd gone against Akito just like Akito always feared he would.  
  
"You think too many dark thoughts for such a young child." Count D spoke for the first time since they'd gotten into the care and he spoke lightly, as if there was nothing the matter. "Are you still brooding over the actions and words of your dog?"  
  
Akito said nothing, and wished he could still turn his head to press his face pressed into Kureno's chest. Count D was the last person Akito wanted to talk to. As it was, Akito had to settle for closing his eyes.  
  
"Shigure said you could help Akito. How?" As always, Hatori was direct and to the point. He wasted no words. Akito had a hard time looking at Hatori, lately. Every time Hatori was around, Akito started to think about what he'd done to Kana and that Hatori still blamed him for that catastrophe.  
  
Count D looked at Hatori. "You would be the doctor that Shigure asked to be present, correct?"  
  
"Yes, I'm Akito's doctor."  
  
"Very good. I am going to do nothing for Akito, except to give him time. A cure is...being developed and will be ready in the next two weeks."  
  
Hatori barely blinked. "Two weeks? That's too long. We don't have that much time."  
  
He was right. Akito knew he wouldn't last long. In a way, Akito was grateful to die. All of his life he'd been terrified of death and fearing it every moment. He hated the idea that he'd been born just as a sacrifice to the Souma family. Now that death was here, though, Akito could be somewhat comforted. At least this would be the end of fearing. He wouldn't have to worry about being so weak and sick anymore. That dreadful voice that spoke to Akito, his own reflection that had slowly come to life over the years, would be gone and maybe...just maybe...death would be more pleasant than life.   
  
It couldn't be any worse.  
  
"Akito will survive perfectly well, so long as he does not strain himself. The distractions of normal life are to great for him at this delicate time. I have a comfortable place where he can rest and be kept alive until the time is right." Count D's eyes shifted again to Akito, who was trying to pretend he wasn't listening. "You will be able to see your rat and your cat at my home."  
  
At that, Akito's ears perked up. "Yuki? Kyou? They're at your home?" His words didn't come out as clear as Akito had thought they should be. His voice sounded muddled and it was hard to move his lips properly.  
  
"Oh, yes." Count D answered with a sweet smile. "Young Kyou has not been feeling well, so he is sleeping at my home. Resting quite comfortably when last I saw him. I will let you see him once you are able to walk on your own. As for Yuki, he and Tohru found their way to my home, quite by chance, I think. They are there now, looking after Kyou."  
  
Akito was getting the strangest feeling while Count D was looking at him. He didn't like it at all. "Stop looking at me." Akito ordered, disliking the nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach that seemed to be growing. It was the eyes. Akito didn't like Count D's eyes.  
  
When Count D kept watching Akito, as if he were some kind of interesting insect, Akito began to get angry. He hated feeling helpless and that was exactly how he felt right now. Thankfully, Hatori spoke, drawing Count D's attention away from Akito.  
  
"You seem to know so much about our family." Hatori said in his usual calm voice. "How much DO you know, precisely?"  
  
"Your family has been known to my family for several hundred years. Since the beginning my family has been involved with yours. As I said before, I seek only to help."  
  
"That's not what I meant." Hatori said. "I mean now. Why do you choose now to come to us and offer to help? If it has been centuries, as you say, then why did you never appear before?"  
  
"Because I, personally, knew nothing about your family until little more than a week ago. It was quite by chance. I was created for your family, in a way..."  
  
Akito's eyes widened. "What are you talking about? I am the one born for the family!" He felt somehow insulted. As if Count D were trying to usurp his position, not as head of the family, but as the savior of the family. Akito was nothing in the world; he had absolutely no importance at all except to die for his family. If this stranger just came along and took that away from Akito then he was truly nothing and even his death would be meaningless.  
  
Count D's eyes refocused back on Akito and Akito wished he hadn't spoken. "Yes. I am aware of your duty to your family. I did not mean to imply that I could or would replace you. I assure you I have no desire for that responsibility. I meant to say that I was created at the same time that your family was, as you say, cursed. I was created only because my papa needed something to control your family and he got that something from my body. My blood and my bones were used to fashion the collar that imprisons your family and I wish to have what belongs to me returned. I am as deeply involved in your family as you are, believe it or not. By helping you I am helping myself, this is not a purely altruistic motives that are guiding me. You were born to die for your family, you say. Would you not rather live for your family?"  
  
That question stopped Akito cold. It was something he'd never even dared to wish for. "You are cruel."  
  
"Frequently." Count D said with relish, as if pleased by the accusation. "However, now that I have asked that question, it must be answered. If you do not answer me, you will have to answer yourself. Do you wish to live? It really is a simple question." Count D looked out the window and said, "Ah, here we are." When the car had stopped and Kureno carried Akito out, they were in the strangest place. It was a small alley and they had barely enough room to walk around the car. Count D spoke to the driver, a smiling young man who'd stepped out of the car to open the door. "Michael, do you wish to go home, now? You have been most kind to enter my service for the time, but I know there are other things you wish to do."  
  
"I can wait a bit, Count." Michael answered. "I wanted to wait and find out what was going to happen to Yuki."  
  
Yuki's name was mentioned so casually that Akito almost missed it. That was another question. Why were Yuki and Kyou here? Were they meant to be hostages of some kind if Akito hadn't come? If they'd been injured at all, what could Akito do in his state? Akito wanted to defend his family, outsiders had no right to lay hands on his family, but he was completely helpless. He could have Hatori and Kureno's help, but how could he trust them? They were doing what Shigure told them to do and Shigure had betrayed him. He could never trust Shigure again.  
  
"Very well." Count D answered the driver, Michael. "You may stay a while. I am not certain how he will react to you, though. Have you told him...oh, my." Count D turned and looked at Kureno, Hatori, and Akito with a surprised expression. "How rude of me, to keep you waiting out here when you must be tired. Please, do come in."  
  
Count D wasted few words as he led them through his shop. The silence was oppressive and neither Hatori nor Kureno were the type to liven up the quite with chatter. Shigure would have. Shigure would have been talking non-stop about something, anything that would take Akito's mind off the darkness and the quite.  
  
Eventually, they all came to a large room. It was a very stark room with nothing but a few reclining seats that looked as if they were meant to be lounged in. Everything in the room was a faint pinkish grey color and smelled vaguely of roses. "Put him there." Count D instructed, pointing to one of the lounge's.  
  
Kureno did as he was told and sat down on the seat once Akito was comfortably positioned. Akito could no longer move on his own and everything was starting to become fuzzy. His sight his hearing, nothing was working quite right. "Now what?" Kureno asked.  
  
"Now you sleep." Count D locked eyes with Kureno and, almost immediately, Kureno's eyes fell shut and he slumped down, halfway falling on top of Akito.  
  
Hatori stepped in front of Akito, but the moment he looked at Count D, Hatori also fell without even saying a word.  
  
"There." Count D seemed very pleased with himself as he looked down at Hatori and Kureno.  
  
Akito was horrified. "No..." his voice was little more than a whisper. "Don't...my family." He couldn't let them get hurt and, yet, there was nothing he could do to help them.  
  
"Your family is fine. I have merely made them sleep. It will keep them safe and out of the way while you rest." Count D assured him. With a snap of his fingers, the doors of the room flew open and four strange looking people rushed in. Without instructions, they lifted both Kureno and Hatori and put them on the other reclining seats. When it was done and the two men were comfortable, the strange people rushed out again without a word being spoken. Count D spoke to Akito when they were alone. "Your dog did not betray you. He is trying very hard to save you. Perhaps, if he still lives, you can thank him when you return to your home."  
  
'If...?' Akito thought. He couldn't have heard that right. What did Count D mean, 'if'? Of course Shigure was still alive. He was perfectly fine.  
  
Count D cocked his head to one side and smiled. "You do not realize the danger, do you? The words you spoke to your dog in anger have cut his heart deeply. At this moment, he feels he has no reason to live. He may be dead when you have returned to him. Ah, but enough of this sad talk. You are perfectly safe in this room. In two weeks your cat, Kyou, will come to you. By that time, he will be fully matured and able to do what the zodiac cat is destined to do. At that time, your fate will be decided. For now, this room is a place for you to rest your mind. For to long, you have been thinking dark thoughts. Most all of your thoughts revolve around your own pitiable doom. Not only your curse haunts you, but also abuse you suffered as a child. I am going to let you rest. This will not be a pleasant rest. You will see many nightmares you have struggled to ignore, but it is necessary. To heal, you must acknowledge your wounds. With luck, you will begin to heal your mind." Count D looked directly into Akito's eyes. "It is time to sleep, Akito. When you wake, you will have to decide whether or not you wish to live or die. To sleep, perchance to dream..."  
  
Akito wanted to protest, but he had no choice. His eyes drifted closed against his will.  
  
And Akito dreamed.  
  
"What's going on?" Akito looked around, but there was nothing but darkness around him. Not a single bit of light, yet he could see himself, somehow. He was standing again and feeling as strong as he ever had.  
  
Very suddenly, Akito was aware that he wasn't alone. All around him, in a wide circle, were his family. Each of the twelve members of his family was kneeling on the ground, their faces lowered. No one moved or spoke; they simply sat on their knees before Akito.  
  
"Shigure?" Akito looked to Shigure first and found him kneeling with the rest, but as unmoving as everyone else. He didn't look up when Akito spoke his name. It was just as well. Akito hadn't forgotten or forgiven Shigure's betrayal and turned away from him angrily. "Hatori? Kureno? Look at me! Why are you just sitting there? What's going on?" Still, no one answered. Outside the circle of the Junikyu, there was Kyou, just as Akito knew he would be there. Kyou stood on the outside with his arms crossed over his chest and, for the first time Akito could ever remember, a completely neutral expression on his face.  
  
"Isn't this how you like them?" The voice that came out of the darkness, from beyond the circle of the Junikyu. "Obedient, silent, waiting your every command? How beautiful they all are on their knees. Subjugated before their God."  
  
"They aren't obedient." Akito aid faintly, staring at where the voice was coming from. "They don't even look at me." He didn't like them like this. He wanted them to talk to him, to at least look at him and admit that he was there.  
  
"I never said they were obedient to you." From out of the darkness stepped Akito's reflection, grinning. "They obey the true head of the family. Look at me!" He thundered and every head of the Junikyu rose as one and their eyes focused on Akito's reflection.  
  
"No!" Akito shouted, suddenly furious that his family would be commanded by another and not even hear his voice. "I am head of the family! You're nothing!"  
  
"But you aren't really sure of that, are you? After all this time, it must be so hard to tell who is real." Akito's reflection stepped between Hatori and Rin, stepping into the circle with Akito. As he did, every eye of the Junikyu followed him. No one spoke or smiled, but simply watched. "I am Akito. You are my reflection."  
  
Akito didn't argue. He was becoming less and less sure of who was real. Maybe the other Akito was right and he was nothing but the reflection. Maybe he was the echo of the true Akito.  
  
"Where am I?"  
  
"Don't you mean, where are we? We are where we've always been." Akito's reflection answered. "We are in our mind." Akito's reflection looked more real, more solid than Akito had ever remembered him being. The reflection brushed back a length of hair with one hand. "We are divided against ourselves. This is the way it has always been for us."  
  
Akito went to his Junikyu and reached out for them, for anyone, but his hand passed right through them. "This isn't real." Akito muttered, staring at his hand. It felt solid.  
  
Yuki turned around all of a sudden, taking his eyes off both of the Akito's and stared off into the darkness.  
  
"Ah, there. One has gone from you. He will not look at you, now." This voice belonged to none of the Akito's, but was recognizable as Count D. It sounded as if Count D were speaking from all around, just out of sight in the darkness. This was the villain who'd taken Akito away from his family. "Who next?"  
  
Hatori shifted his body and turned, also facing out into the darkness.  
  
"The dragon has left the Zodiac, it seems." Count D spoke again, though he still didn't appear.  
  
Next was Hiro who turned from the Akito's, followed quickly by Kisa. Momiji turned away and then Hatsuharu with Rin. It went on and on until only Shigure was left facing the Akito's. For a long time, it seemed that Shigure wouldn't move. Then, Shigure raised his head slowly and looked at both Akito's. There was a unbearable sadness in Shigure's eyes. A pain so great that Akito wanted to look away. After a moment, Shigure turned his back on Akito and, like all the others, faced outward into the darkness. Now they were completely isolated.  
  
Again, Count D's voice spoke. The voice sounded the way velvet felt, soft and smooth. "It is time for you to rest, Akito."  
  
"Which one of us?"  
  
"Both of you. You have both been under much pressure and rest would do you nothing but good. Time to rest and time to heal. Your divided mind must be made whole and that will take time."  
  
"I don't want to sleep!" Both Akito's shouted at once.  
  
"You have no choice." All of the Junikyu faded away and Akito was left in darkness, just the two of them. Then, even that faded and Akito was completely, utterly alone for the first time in his life. "Rest," Count D's voice whispered again. "Take this peace while you can get it." And Akito was aware of nothing after that.  
  
Count D-  
  
Count D looked down at Akito's face, now relaxing from the intense look he'd worn during his disturbing dream to a more placid look. "Poor child." Count D muttered. In this place, Akito would sleep until his mind had healed enough to allow him to function, at least a little while. It wouldn't take long, not with the incense D was burning. A peaceful rest could do wonders for a person's state of mind. Even now, as he'd examined Akito's psyche, D wondered if this boy had ever had even one peaceful night's rest in his life. It seemed very likely that Akito had suffered nightmares his whole life.  
  
Still, other things to do. D left the room, absolutely sure that his guest would rest undisturbed and that his two attendants, the dragon and the rooster, would do nothing to interfere with the healing process. No matter what their good intentions, it was likely that they would do more harm than good in whatever they tried to do.  
  
To be continued...  
  
Next chapter: Shigure goes to Kureno's house and finds the children.  
  
Leon wakes up and continues his search for the Black Scorpion.  
  
Thank you everyone who's reviewed, I really appreciate all of your taking the time to do it. See you all in two weeks. 


	25. Unkind

Chapter 25: Unkind  
  
Elsewhere-  
  
Ritsu-  
  
They eventually found the address, though it had taken quite a few wrong turns to find it. Strange. They'd lived in this neighborhood for countless generations, yet they kept getting lost. Ritsu had an excuse, he'd grown up at the hot springs, a couple of miles away, but Kagura was getting more and more frustrated when she kept losing her way. In the end they found the right building, just a short walk from Ayame's shop, in fact.  
  
"Are you sure?" Ritsu muttered to Kagura as they both eyed the plain metal door. It did seem a bit odd. Ritsu put his hand on Kagura's arm for the reassurance and he was glad he was with someone so much stronger than he was. Kagura rarely hesitated and if he was alone Ritsu was afraid he would just turn around and run home.  
  
"This is the address." Kagura said. "Look, are you sure about what you told me? You said you'd met this Count D before, right?"  
  
"Yes, in America. He was very kind to me. I don't know why he'd come to take Akito away. He's not a bad person, I'm sure of it." Ritsu had felt very safe when he was as Count D's petshop.  
  
Kagura's stony expression didn't falter. "You can't tell just by looking at someone, Rit. Whether he's good or bad, we've got to find out what's going on. Shigure said Kyou's in there. Yuki and Tohru are probably with him." Kagura reached for the door when it flew open and in the doorway was a man.   
  
He was tall and narrow with slightly messy hair. When he saw them, he smiled brilliantly. "Good evening. It is evening already, isn't it? You're expected, please come in."  
  
Kagura and Ritsu looked at each other, nervously. "Expected? But, how...?"  
  
"Ah," The man's eyes twinkled with a secret. "The master of this house has known that you would come." He looked over their heads, it was easy since he was nearly a foot taller than both Ritsu and Kagura. "Alone? Huh. That's odd. The Count said more of you would come. Still, I suppose they'll come later. Won't you come in?" He held the door for them and gave a slight bow, gesturing for them to enter.  
  
"Who are you?" Kagura asked, squeezing Ritsu's arm just enough to let him know not to move, yet. There was something about the man's face that didn't look quite right, even to Ritsu.  
  
"You can call me Michael."  
  
"Michael." Kagura stumbled over the foreign name. "What's going on here?"  
  
Michael motioned again for them to enter. "It's best not to speak of such things out here. You really should come in, now. The detective will be leaving soon and the Count won't want us to run into him."  
  
"Detective?" Ritsu spoke up for the first time, alerted by the word. "You mean Orcot-san?" He should have known Orcot-san would be around somewhere. It pained Ritsu to think that Ayame was going to be hurt when he realized that his dear friend was so close to the person who took Akito away. Rin seemed to think Count D was also the one who cursed their family. Despite all that, Ritsu was determined to have faith that Shigure knew best. He was very sure that Orcot-san and Count D weren't bad people, so Ritsu didn't let himself get discouraged. This would all work out...somehow.  
  
Michael seemed to notice Ritsu for the first time when he'd spoken and stared for a very long time. Such a very long time that it made Ritsu uncomfortable and he tightened his arm around Kagura's. "You're very pretty." Michael said suddenly. He reached out and took Ritsu's arm, pulling him forcefully. "Come along, now. We must get in. I'll take you to the ones you seek."  
  
Ritsu 'eeped', but didn't really resist when Michael urged them in. Kagura followed quietly. "Please," Ritsu said, his voice beginning to edge towards panic. "Please, let me go." The last time a stranger had grabbed him like this...it was the attack in America. They'd thought he was a girl, just like this Michael obviously did. They'd hurt him...pushed him on the ground...kicked him and...and...  
  
"Okay." Michael smiled easily and let his hand fall away from Ritsu's arm without question. "Are you hungry? I suppose not. The Count said you'd be in a bit of a hurry, so I'll show you right to the room."  
  
Ristu stared at his arm where Michael had been holding him. It seemed strange that someone would listen to him. What was even stranger was the room that Michael led them into. "It's the same!" Ritsu exclaimed, surprised. The entire place was precisely the same as the petshop Ritsu had visited back in San Francisco. The rugs on the floors, the lights hanging high above, the tapestries on the walls, and even how the bird cages were stacked. It was as the entire petshop had been just picked up in America and set gently down in Japan.  
  
"The same?" Kagura asked, looking around. Of course she wouldn't see anything odd, she hadn't seen Count D's shop in America.   
  
When Ritsu was about to explain, Michael interrupted, changing the subject easily. "So," Michael said in a pleasantly conversational tone while he led them through a reception area and through a set of heavy looking wooden doors that led into a back area. "How do you two know Yuki?"  
  
Again, Kagura and Ritsu's exchanged a glance. "We've known him for a while." Kagura said, evasively. "What about you? How do you know him?" Kagura was probably right to be suspicious.  
  
Michael laughed merrily and stuffed his hands into his trouser pockets. "Oh, I've known Yuki my entire life. Every day since I first saw the sunlight, he's always been with me."  
  
Ritsu blinked. That didn't sound at all like Yuki. Yuki had few friends, everyone in the family knew that sad fact. It was impossible, too. This man must have been at least twenty or thirty, years older than Yuki. How could Yuki have known this man his whole life?  
  
Michael didn't seem to notice Ritsu and Kagura's puzzled expressions and kept walking. "I love Yuki quite a bit, so I came here to make sure he was all right."  
  
"You love him?" Kagura asked.   
  
"Oh, yes." Michael answered happily. "How could I not? He's always been there for me. He's protected me in the fiercest of storms and always made sure I didn't go hungry. I suppose I see Yuki in a different light than everyone else. No one's ever seen him as I do." He sounded very proud when he said that.  
  
It wasn't really all that surprising that Michael said he loved Yuki, though. Many people couldn't help but to fall in love with Yuki when they saw him, or they thought they did. How could they love him when Yuki hid himself away from the world? They didn't really know him so they couldn't love him. In fact, the only one outside the family who could have a chance of loving Yuki would be Tohru. She was the only person outside the family who really knew Yuki.   
  
Inside the family was another question. Being outside most of the relationships in the family, as Ritsu was, it was easy to get an outsider's viewpoint. He knew, everyone knew, that Hatsuharu had once had a crush on Yuki. Ritsu also believed that given half a chance, Hatsuharu would make a move on Yuki, as he often had in the passed, despite his current relationship with Rin. He knew that there was one other Souma who felt very strongly about Yuki. Kyou. As strange as that sound, at first, Ritsu truly believed that from such fiery battles, could come the heat of passion. Still, that little theory was best kept a secret. If Ritsu even hinted at the possibilities he saw between Kyou and Yuki, both of his cousins might try to kill him. They were so stubborn.  
  
It seemed a long time before Michael stopped before a door, which was exactly like what seemed like a hundred other doors they'd passed. "Here it is." He said simply before he turned and began to walk away.  
  
With nothing else to do, Kagura reached forward and slid open the door. Inside was not what they had expected to find. Hatori and Kureno passed out and Akito sleeping soundly. Ristu would think passed out because he couldn't imagine Hatori or Kureno simply falling asleep when Akito might need them. They were both carefully and comfortably laid out on couches, as was Akito.  
  
"Do you think we should wake them?" Kagura whispered.  
  
"I-I don't know." Ritsu and Kagura both crept in, unsure of what to do next. Ritsu kept his eyes on Kagura for the most part, hoping to get some hint of what he should do. The room was eerily quiet and it did nothing to help Ritsu's nerves. He thought he might burst at any moment.  
  
Kagura went to Hatori and pressed her fingers gently against his throat and lay her other hand on his chest. "He's breathing and his heart's steady." She said, sounding very relieved. "Kureno, too. This is very strange. I don't think I've ever seen Kureno sleep so soundly. He wakes up at the drop of pin, usually. Even at the banquet, he never really sleeps. Hatori's pretty out of it, too."  
  
In the meanwhile, Ritsu had gone to Akito and, gingerly, put his fingers against Akito's throat. Akito barely felt human; his skin was cool to the touch and just not right. However, there was the thumping of a pulse against Ritsu's fingers and Akito was breathing. The pulse wasn't steady and the breathing wasn't as deep as it should have been, but at least he was alive. Ritsu reported this to Kagura and then it was time to make another choice.  
  
"Do we stay here or keep looking for the others?" Kagura said out loud, though it sounded more like she was talking to herself. "Poor Kyou," Kagura muttered, her eyes darting to the door they'd just walked through. "He's alone out there, somewhere. My poor Kyou." Ritsu heard Kagura's breathing begin to quicken, a sure sign that she was about ready to go on a rampage looking for Kyou. "Sweet darling, he's probably scared being here all alone. My Kyou! Wait for me..." She didn't get any further when Ritsu interrupted.  
  
"But...but he's not alone." Ritsu was shocked when Kagura lost the insane gleam in her eyes that usually happened when she was thinking too much about Kyou and looked at him. "Remember, he's got Yuki and Tohru with him." Right after he'd said it, Ritsu thought that maybe he shouldn't have mentioned Tohru's name. Perhaps Kagura would be jealous, everyone knew how close Kyou was to Tohru.  
  
Ritsu's fears were unfounded, as Kagura actually looked relieved at his words. "Yes, that's right. Yuki's sensible enough to keep Kyou out of trouble and having Tohru around will stop him from doing thoughtless things." She smiled sweetly. "I'm sure he'll be safe until I find him. Maybe you should stay here, Rit. We don't know who or what's lurking out there in those dark corridors. It'll probably be safer here."  
  
Ritsu, naturally, took Kagura's suggestion as a way of saying that he wasn't brave enough to go with her or that he wouldn't be of any use. She was right, he knew that. "Are you sure we shouldn't stick together?" Ritsu asked, timidly as Kagura was halfway out the door. "I mean...well, it's just that...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything." He hung his head, but looked up when he didn't hear the door close. Kagura was looking at him, expectantly.  
  
"If you want to say something," Kagura told him. "Go ahead and say it. I'm listening." Kagura was like that, very straightforward. She meant what she said, so Ritsu screwed up his courage and said,  
  
"Well, I thought that if we stayed together, neither of us would get lost. This seems like a pretty big place and if one of us gets lost we might never find our way out again. This way, there will be twice the chance of remembering our way out."  
  
To Ritsu's shock, Kagura not only considered Ritsu's idea, but nodded in agreement. "That's a good point. Let's leave a note for Hatori or Kureno," It was well known that Akito couldn't read well. "So they know we're around somewhere. When they could find nothing to write with or on in the room, Kagura took off her backpack and set it down on the floor near Hatori. It was the one thing that Kagura always seemed to carry, her backpack that looked like a little orange cat. It wasn't hard to figure out whom she was trying to flatter with it. Even Kagura giggled at herself. "Hatori will know it was me who left it." Then she looked at Ritsu and pulled a ribbon out of his hair. "And that's for you."  
  
"But Hatori might not know it's mine."  
  
"Oh, he'll know. Ayame gave it to you on your last birthday and Hatori was there. Don't you remember? Hatori almost never forgets anything."  
  
Together, and feeling much heartened by the finding of Akito, Hatori, and Kureno, Ritsu and Kagura went to the door and swung it open.  
  
"Greetings." There was Count D, smiling and radiant as he had been at the estate and back in America. If any creature could be called perfect, Ritsu thought that it must be Count D. He'd changed his outfit from the last time they'd seen him and now wore something even more elaborate. "I was not expecting only two of you." He commented before stepping aside and letting Kagura and Ritsu pass. "I had really expected the dog to come."  
  
Kagura scowled. "He won't come. Shigure feels awful about what's happened. He's betrayed Akito and he can't stand that."  
  
Count D turned and began to walk away, talking all the while. "Betrayed? Does it seem like a betrayal to protect the ones you love? He understand better than anyone else in your family, but that will change soon. Very soon you will all understand. Come along, then. The more of your blood that is near the better it will be for Kyou."  
  
"Kyou?" Kagura's ears perked up. "Where is he?"  
  
"Sleeping. Rest can do miracles, you know. I had hoped that your dog would be sensible enough to bring the rest of your family here after the excitement had passed. It is not necessary, but beneficial for the rest of your family to be present when the time for Kyou's awakening comes."  
  
Kagura's eyes widened. "Awakening? What are you doing to him?"  
  
"I am doing nothing other than allowing nature to run its course. I will take you to Kyou and your other friends now. He is resting and I must have your word that you will do nothing to wake him. In two weeks he will wake naturally. You must be quite when you are with him and you must not touch him. Yuki and Tohru have already been told this."  
  
Ritsu stepped ahead of Kagura. "Count D, can you really heal Akito?"  
  
Count D stopped walking and turned to focus on Ritsu. It was the same as before, when Ritsu had met Count D. He had the undeniable feeling that Count D was something far greater than a human and was suddenly drowning in the feeling that Count D was the most wonderful person in the world. Ritsu and Kagura stopped walking the same time that Count D had and now both faced him. With his claw-like hands, Count D reached out for Ritsu and it didn't even occur to Ritsu to move away. Count D stroked Ritsu's cheek gently. "Child, you have not healed from your attack." His fingernails brushed over the bruised side of Ritsu's face, so lightly that Ritsu could barely feel it. "I shall make some medicine for you."  
  
"You didn't answer his question." Kagura took Ritsu's arm and pulled him backwards a step or two away from Count D. "Can you really heal Akito? It's important."  
  
"No."  
  
"No." Kagura sounded as if the world was ending around her and all she could do was helplessly watch.  
  
Then Count D smiled and the world was right again. "I will not heal him. All I am doing is buying him time. Complete rest, away from the pressures of the outside world, will give him time and allow him to live long enough for Kyou to heal him."  
  
"Kyou's going to..." Kagura stopped, obviously thinking that she was starting to sound like a parrot. "How? Kyou can't heal, he doesn't know anything about medicine."  
  
"You will see."  
  
"NO!" Kagura shouted, suddenly angry. "No more mystery! You're very pleased with yourself, but I won't let you mess around with Kyou or the rest of my family! I don't care who you are, you haven't got the right!"  
  
"Right?" Count D was suddenly right in front of Kagura, staring at her intently with eyes cool enough to freeze even her. "Who are you to say what rights I have, child? If you want answers, then I shall give them to you, but do not try to tell me my business. Your Kyou is currently in the larval stage of the true cat. The human image of Kyou that you see most often is nothing more than an illusion. That Kyou does not exist. He never really did, except in the minds of those around him. The house cat you see is only one of the shapes he is able to take and, in a few short days, he will be able to assume all his shapes and will be in full command of his inborn talents. He will be far different from the boy you know now and it is he who will have the ability to save or destroy your family." All of the Count D said in his soft, warm voice with a deep satisfaction coloring it. He was very pleased.  
  
Kagura took a moment to shake herself out of the trance Count D had seemed to put her in before speaking. "Save or destroy? I don't understand. Kyou wouldn't destroy the family."  
  
"Are you certain?"  
  
It was such a simple question, but Kagura hesitated a moment. "Yes. Yes, of course I'm certain."  
  
"Even after how badly he's been treated through his entire life? The humiliation, the degradation he's suffered through? Do you really think he would want to save people would treat him like that? For the simple comfort of tradition, he would be imprisoned for the rest of his life, a doom he fears more than death. He will no longer be subject to the wills of others when he wakes. He will even control that which your entire family desires to control; his transformation. Does the idea of being able to control your transformation appeal to you? What would you give to be able to will yourself to transform? Kyou will have that power, shortly."  
  
Ritsu watched this whole exchange in rapt attention. He had never ceased to be in awe of Count D, who seemed far removed from the rest of the crude humanity around them, but Kagura was a force to be reckoned with. A deeply passionate girl, Kagura was at her best when those she cared about were threatened. All doubt fled from her face. "Kyou will always be the same to me."  
  
"That is an ignorant statement. You have not yet seen how he will be changed. Perhaps you will hate what he's chosen to become."  
  
"Chosen?"  
  
"Yes. For all of my influence in what is now happening, Kyou has chosen his path of his own freewill. I am merely giving him the ability to make his choice. What he decides to do now. He alone can save your Akito or let him die. Shall we go, now?"  
  
They arrived at what Count D called Kyou's room a few moments later. Count D did not enter the room with them, but excused himself and said that he had other business to attend to. The room was an impossible forest, but impossible things seemed to be happening quite a bit lately. Kagura and Ritsu kept close together as they walked through the forest until they saw a cabin in the distance.  
  
"Kagura? Ritsu?" Yuki greeted them when they made their way to the small cabin. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?" Yuki was sitting on the grass near something that Ritsu had no way to describe. It was very large and white, looking kind of like thread.  
  
Kagura told Yuki everything that had happened from the moment the man, Orcot-san, had been shot to their arrival at the petshop. She told him about Count D's appearance at the estate and how Shigure had just let Akito be stolen away. She told him that they'd found Akito, Hatori, and Kureno in the petshop, all of them sleeping like babies. She told him, in hushed tones, what Count D had said about Kyou being the savior or destroyer of the family.  
  
"I believe him." Yuki said, at last. As usual, Yuki was somber and he seemed to take everything in stride. "He told Honda-san and myself much the same thing. Kyou is, apparently, going through some radical transformation."  
  
"Where is he?" Kagura asked, at last.  
  
Yuki gave one of his little smirks. "Can't you tell? He's right here." Yuki looked at the huge white...thing.  
  
Kagura blinked and her mouth fell open. "Kyou?"  
  
"Count D said if we disturb his sleep, he'll die." Yuki told her quickly, no doubt for fear that she would do something foolish and try to free Kyou from his own little cocoon. Yuki's warning worked and Kagura wrapped her arms around herself to prevent herself from grabbing Kyou.  
  
"Yuki, where's Tohru? Count D said she was here." Ritsu had only just noticed that the soft spoken girl was missing and it worried him. Ritsu had a soft spot for Tohru, she was such a kindhearted girl that it was hard not to be fond of her.  
  
Yuki scowled at the question, but before Ritsu could start apologizing for saying something stupid, Yuki said, "She went to find food. I couldn't talk her out of it. She said, since we have to stay with Kyou for two weeks we'll have to have food sometime." Yuki's eyes narrowed in a way that said he was thinking dark, evil thoughts. "She's alone out there and I couldn't stop her. Feh! She was right. I guess. We need food, but...I just don't like it. Have you seen some of the, well, people in this place? She probably in danger out there and the worst part is that I couldn't leave her here because I don't know what's lurking in this room, either." He turned his gaze to the innocent looking forest all around them. "Just behind those trees could be anything. Nothing's safe here. One of us had to stay with Kyou, even I know that. We can't leave him unguarded." Then his narrowed eyes widened, somewhat. "Now that you're here, though, Kyou won't be alone. Stay with him, won't you?" It was a needlessly asked question, of course they would. "I'm going to find Honda-san."  
  
They walked with him to the door that led out of the room, but, to Yuki's increasing irritation, the door was locked.  
  
Yuki pulled on it several times, nearly yanking his arm out of its socket, before he let Kagura and her well-known strength give it a shot. Still, the door stayed stubbornly locked. Yuki glared at the door, furiously, but kept quite.  
  
"It was opened a minute ago." Ritsu said. Count D hadn't used a key to unlock the door, it had just swung easily open. "Tohru opened it easily when she left, didn't she?"  
  
"Yes." Yuki answered as he finally accepted that they were locked in and he stepped back to look at the door. "We're prisoners. Honda-san was let out for a reason. I wonder why."  
  
Tohru-  
  
Tohru wasn't about to let Yuki go hungry and she knew her own stomach was rumbling. Of course Yuki didn't like her going off alone, he was very sweet to worry about her.  
  
In her search for the kitchen, Tohru went into the wrong room.  
  
She saw Akito in a daze, staring up at the ceiling of the room. It seemed strange to see Akito off the estate, though it shouldn't. She'd seen him at school and in the forest just after Kyou had transformed.  
  
He wasn't alone in the room, Tohru saw Hatori and a blonde haired man she'd never seen before, both of them sleeping soundly. She knew, from what little she heard about him, that Akito had a very sickly nature and that Hatori didn't often let him go off on his own. Why would Hatori have brought Akito here?  
  
"Hatori-sensei?" Tohru shook Hatori's arm, but it was no use, Hatori was out cold. She thought about trying to wake the stranger, but didn't quite have the nerve to touch someone she didn't know. Instead, Tohru went to Akito and called his name. "Akito-san?" Tohru whispered, almost afraid to disturb him. Maybe he'd heard that Yuki and Kyou were here and came to help, somehow. Tohru couldn't imagine any other reason that he'd be in the Petshop. "Akito-san, can you hear me? Are you all right?"  
  
Very slowly, Akito's head swiveled until he was looking right at her. His mouth opened and he looked as if he was trying to speak, but nothing came out. Akito blinked a few times, as if he couldn't quite focus on Tohru and then reached a weak, trembling hand out to her. "Birdy?"  
  
Although she didn't know what he was talking about, the plea for help seemed obvious to Tohru. She went to Akito and took his hand, kneeling beside him. "Akito-san, can you hear me?" She repeated herself, but feared the worst. He looked terrible. Far worse than any other time Tohru had seen him. So pale that he was nearly transparent and his hand was icy cold in Tohru's. "I'm Honda Tohru. Do you remember me? I'm a friend of Yuki and Kyou's."   
  
"You sing very sweetly." Akito whispered, gently. Almost painfully, Akito rolled himself over onto his side, so that he was looking at Tohru, and he reached out to touch her hair. "What a beautiful bird. Shigure gave me a bird like you. It was brown, though, and you're grey."  
  
It was then that Tohru realized that Akito must see her bird form, just as Kyou had. She didn't know why she appeared to some people as a bird and to others as herself, but Tohru didn't let that worry her, now. She held onto Akito's hand and let him pat her hair.  
  
Akito-  
  
He woke and couldn't see, at first. The first thing he saw after his vision slowly returned was the bird, flying gracefully around the room. It was as beautiful as any of the birds he had in his garden, though it was a different color than the ones Shigure gave him.  
  
The bird landed on his hand when Akito reached out for it, just as tame as any of his. It looked at him with its large black eyes and then let out a sweet trilling song. He missed Shigure and seeing this tiny, fragile bird made it all the more painful. Where was he, anyway? Akito couldn't seem to remember much of anything, only that he wanted to go home.  
  
"Stay with me?" Akito asked the little bird, raising his finger to stroke its back, again. "Please stay with me. I miss my birds. Where did everyone go? Do you know, birdy? Where's my family? I was sure they were right here?" He tried to raise his head to look around, but just felt so weak that he couldn't. "Did I do something bad?" Akito asked, looking again at the little bird. "I don't remember. Is everyone mad at me? Is that why they aren't here? I don't want them to be mad at me." He knew it! They'd all left him. He was alone. All alone. He could barely move and they'd all left him. Maybe this was it, they wanted him to die! Die? Die? A memory stirred.  
  
'Would you not rather live for your family?'  
  
Akito laughed. "He asked me if I wanted to live. Isn't that a stupid question? You think so, don't you?" He smiled at the bird. "I've always wanted to be a bird." Akito commented. "I wanted to fly. I still do. To just open my wings and fly away from...everything." Akito felt his eyes growing heavy again and he let his head sink down into the soft cushions. "I just wanted to fly. I killed it. I never told Shigure, but I killed his bird. I didn't mean to. It just happened. I was so angry about...about something. I don't remember what. I killed his bird when it came to sit on my hand like it always did. I snapped its little neck and buried it under the maple tree so Shigure wouldn't find it. The bird was laughing at me. It kept laughing and wouldn't stop." His breathing became more rapid and Akito's fingers began twitching spastically. "It wasn't my fault! That bird wouldn't stop laughing at me! I tried to keep it in a cage, but it kept escaping and laughing at me. I only wanted to keep it safe!" Tears sprang to his eyes and rolled down the side of his face like liquid fire. "I was so jealous. I wanted to fly. That bird Shigure gave me had no problems and could just fly away from anything that wanted to hurt it. Ha! I showed it. It couldn't fly away from everything, it couldn't fly away from me."  
  
The bird on Akito's finger wasn't singing anymore and, unless Akito was much mistaken, it seemed to be listening to him, intently. What if it could understand what he was saying? Was it angry with him for killing a bird? This one would just fly away, too.  
  
"You'd leave me, too." Akito hissed at the bird, suddenly furious. "You can fly away anytime you please. You're free. You're just like all the rest of them, they'd leave me. Every time winter comes, they all fly away. I want wings, I want to fly!"  
  
The bird, startled by his sudden yelling, jumped out of Akito's hand and began circling the room with rapidly beating wings.  
  
"Come back here!" Akito shouted as loudly as he could, which wasn't really very loud. "Don't leave me behind!" He sobbed, watching enviously. "Don't leave me!"   
  
Akito couldn't focus his thoughts anymore and soon they drifted away from anger and his face, which had been twisted and made ugly by his anger, softened almost at once. "Pretty. So beautiful." He whispered. Even as he watched the bird, Akito's thoughts drifted like clouds away from his severe anger and he just watched it. Time to sleep. To rest.  
  
Tohru-  
  
Tohru wanted to hold Akito and tell him that everything would be all right, but something told her he wouldn't appreciate it. Instead, she went to the door and looked over her shoulder. "Poor Akito-san. Don't worry, I'll come back." She left then, but had no idea what she could do for Akito, really. Maybe it was for the best that he sleep. She didn't know why he wanted to fly so badly, but it seemed to consume him like nothing Tohru had ever seen before. 'He's so hard to understand. I think he's afraid.'  
  
Just outside the door, waiting for Tohru, was Michael with a picnic basket in his hands. "Tet-chan asked me to bring this to you." Michael told her. "There's enough food for all of you. Tomorrow, someone will bring more food. You don't have to wander around the petshop like this, it's really not safe."  
  
"Oh, thank you." Tohru smiled at Michael and took the basket from his hands. It was very heavy, so much so that Michael took it back and offered to carry it for her. "I don't really think Yuki and I will need so much." She said, afraid that maybe they were taking food away from the other people here.  
  
"You may be surprised. More of Yuki's family will be arriving shortly, two already have. The Count says it's best if as many of Kyou's family as possible are around Kyou while he'd developing. Please don't ask me why, I really don't know."  
  
Tohru liked Michael; he was very pleasant and seemed kind. They walked back to the room where Tohru had left Yuki and Kyou. All the while, Tohru thought of Akito, who was hopefully still sleeping. Wouldn't it be awful if he had woken up again and was looking for her? What if he was yelling again or if he was afraid? He looked so sick.  
  
"I have to leave you here." Michael told Tohru when they'd reached the room where Kyou and Yuki were. "I'm not supposed to go in there. Tell Yuki I said hi."  
  
"You know Yuki?"  
  
"Oh, yes." He gave a shy smile and then bent at the waist to whisper into Tohru's ear exactly how he knew Yuki.  
  
Tohru looked at Michael, surprised. "Really? I never would have guessed."  
  
Michael laughed. "Don't tell Yuki, will you? I think it would only confuse him and he doesn't need that. It's our secret?"  
  
"It's a secret." Tohru smiled back. There would be no harm in keeping Michael's secret, Tohru was sure of that.  
  
Leon-  
  
For the first time in a long time, Leon had slept without nightmares of Murakai and it gave him hope.  
  
Leon woke up feeling very groggy. He rubbed his eyes and yawned deeply. The sheets were cool and Leon dozed for a short while in that all to brief period between sleeping and wake. All he was aware of was that he was warm and comfortable and that wherever he was, it was a lot more comfortable than his own bed. When Leon opened his eyes, he found himself staring up at a dark red fabric hanging over his head. 'Warm.' Leon thought, lazily. He didn't want to move. It just felt so right to be there. 'Next to me...something warm.' It took Leon a while to decide to look to his right and find out what was next to him.   
  
D.  
  
As still and beautiful as a painting, D was fast asleep next to Leon on the large bed Leon found himself on. In the near darkness, D's skin was like the glow of the moon, luminous and unearthly. He was asleep with his hair spread around his head like a halo on the pillow. It seemed strange to see D like this. Leon had seen him sleep very rarely. He looked very peaceful.  
  
'He's sleeping on my bed.' The still foggy thought drifted across Leon's mind. 'No. I'm sleeping on his bed. This is bad. Very bad. I shouldn't be here.' It was all made worse by the sudden realization that Leon was half-naked under the sheets and there was no one who would have undressed him except D. Without moving a muscle, for fear of waking D and having to answer questions he couldn't, Leon thought desperately.   
  
'Did I get drunk and do something stupid? What had happened? How did I end up in D's bed?!' Leon's heart began to speed up and he wondered if he'd done anything terrible to D. D was so small and frail, it wouldn't have been hard for someone Leon's size to hurt or do...other things to D when drunk. 'I haven't been drunk in almost a year!' That must be the reason for ending up in D's bed, Leon must have been drunk. Leon focused a little harder on D and was very thankful not to see any obvious signs that D had been hurt. Of course, that didn't mean anything. D was still wearing all his clothes and he could be hurt somewhere that Leon couldn't see. 'Oh, shit, what did I do? He wouldn't be here just to take a nap next to me.'  
  
Leon couldn't really remember much after they'd put Chris to bed. He'd spoken to D for a little while, but it was all kind of fuzzy. Well, at least they had Chris home safe and sound. He'd gotten a very clear look at that man who'd been leading the children with the mark of the Black Scorpion and that was the major reason why he'd come to Japan in the first place. Leon had found the Black Scorpion children within just a couple of days of arriving in Japan and that was pretty damned good luck for Leon.  
  
None of that changed the fact that he was sleeping in the same bed as D. It was all a bit nerve wracking, but not enough to make Leon jump screaming from the bed. He couldn't just walk away. Maybe he should wake D up...  
  
"Did you sleep well?" D spoke without opening his eyes. It was as if he were afraid to disturb the tranquillity of the room. The room was certainly something from another world.  
  
"Yeah." Leon replied, though his mouth felt very dry. "No nightmares." Ever since Leon had learned about Murakai's fate he'd suffered terrible nightmares. This was the first time in a long time that he'd been able to sleep peacefully. Well, it had been peaceful before Leon had woken up. "Ummm...D?"  
  
"Yes?" D still didn't open his eyes and he didn't move other than the whisper his used to speak.  
  
"What...uh...happened?" How to phrase this without sounding like a complete idiot? D didn't sound angry, so maybe Leon hadn't done anything so horrible. "I can't remember much after we put Chris to sleep." Yeah, that sounded good. Now if D were going to react, this would be the time to do it.  
  
"What happened?" There was a faint note of amusement in D's voice and his lips curled slightly into a smile. "Do you not recall?"  
  
The tone of D's voice made Leon break into a cold sweat. Okay, maybe something had happened. Leon couldn't find his voice to answer; he just knew D was going to yell at him. D wasn't angry, so Leon hadn't hurt him. But something must have happened or why would D be smiling like that?  
  
"My dear detective," D said, still with his eyes closed. "You were so exhausted from all the excitement lately that you've taken an overlong nap. You've been sleeping for four hours. I have also had much to do and I am taking a short rest before I need to be up and working again, also." Then his eyes opened dreamily and he met Leon's gaze. "Why?" He asked, in all innocence. "What did you think had happened?"   
  
Leon managed a relieved smile. "Oh, nothing. I should go." Leon told him, though he didn't move at first. It really did feel kinda cozy just laying there. Leon thought that D must have had the most comfortable bed in the world. Leon wanted to stay there with D and that urge frightened him more than almost anything he'd ever experienced in his whole life, the exception being the few times when D and Chris' life had been in danger. "Got things to do."  
  
"When you leave, look in on your brother. He was worried about you." There was no emotion in D's voice, as if he were resigned to fate. He wasn't smiling anymore.  
  
"I have to go." Leon said firmly. He had no doubts about that. Even if he died, he had to do this. Nothing had ever been so clear or certain to Leon. The Black Scorpion had to be destroyed and if Leon didn't do it, no one would. "I came here for a reason."  
  
"I know."  
  
Leon sat up slightly, leaning on one elbow so that he was looking down at D. "How do you know?" It wasn't the first time Leon had asked and it probably wouldn't be the last. Leon didn't expect anymore of an answer now than he'd ever gotten before. Nothing ever fit with D. No matter how many times Leon had tried to solve the puzzle that was D, none of the pieces ever fit together quite right.  
  
D still didn't move and let his eyes close again. "I just...do. Can you accept that I know things you do not?"  
  
"I can understand it. That doesn't mean I like it."  
  
"Like it or not," D looked right at Leon, his gaze seeming to pierce through Leon. "There are things I can not tell you. I know where you're going. I know why you're going. I know that you feel you have no choice. I know that you would foolishly give up even your life to accomplish what you wish to do."  
  
Leon felt a stab of guilt for some reason. In that moment, Leon knew he was causing pain to D. "I don't have a choice. This is really important, D. I...I can't just let this happen. More kids are going to end up like Murakai if I just sit here and do nothing. I have to find the Black Scorpion." There. He'd said it. Now D knew for sure what Leon was doing.  
  
D's eyes slid closed again and it was as if he had gone back to asleep. "Whatever you do, Leon, please be careful. There are too many people who care about you to lose you."  
  
"Hey, I'm not out looking to die." Leon protested as he began to look around the room for his clothes. "I'll be back. There's just stuff to do. I gotta go see if Ayame's all right, for one."  
  
"Yes, Ayame." D's voice hardened slightly and if Leon didn't know him so well, he might have missed it.  
  
"What about him?"  
  
D didn't answer at first. "Nothing, I suppose. Go ahead. You have much to do and I am sure that your friend will be pleased to see you. I'll just stay here... alone."  
  
Leon scowled. "You know, you sound like a jealous wife. What the Hell's wrong? Ayame's my friend." Leon, irritated that things had gotten uncomfortable so quickly, fairly jumped off the bed to hunt for his clothes. 'Why's he being like this?' Leon thought when he started to look in and under things for his clothes. 'We were having a nice, peaceful...' Peaceful what? They were having a nice nap together.  
  
"You are very close to Ayame, Leon." D said, in a suddenly chilly voice. "His hair is longer than mine. He, too, wears long robes like mine. His mannerisms are feminine, more so than mine. Despite all that, you have no difficulty in calling him your friend. You are perfectly at ease with him." D said nothing else, though it sounded like he wanted to. It didn't matter; Leon knew what D wanted to say.  
  
"Look..." Leon wasn't really sure what to say. He hadn't known that his friendship with Ayame was upsetting D. What could he say? Ayame was a close friend and he'd really been there for Leon when Leon had needed him. It didn't matter to Leon what Ayame looked like or dressed like, maybe because he'd known Ayame for so long before they'd actually met. It did matter what D looked like. It mattered because... "Don't go pulling this shit, D." Leon said harshly. "You know damned well what Ayame means to me! He's done a lot for me. That's...that's really unfair that you'd say that kinda thing about Ayame. Are you trying to get me to hate him? Well, it's not going to happen." Leon wasn't really as angry as he sounded. He didn't even sound as angry as he wanted to sound, but this conversation and the situation, being in such an intimate surrounds with D, was starting to lead Leon into frightening thoughts. Thoughts he didn't want to deal with.  
  
If D was offended by Leon's hard words, he didn't show it at all. If anything, he sounded almost relieved. It was as if he could see passed Leon's words, right to what Leon was thinking. "I think that you are most unkind to yourself, Leon." D told him, instead. If D could see Leon's thoughts, it was mercy that led him to change the subject. "I may not be around when you return, Leon. There is much that I, also, have to do while we are here. There will be food in the kitchen, please take what you like if you are hungry."  
  
"Where are you going? I didn't know you had anything to do here." Leon tried to sound as if he hadn't been thinking such painful thoughts and he believed he was doing a pretty good job.  
  
"Did you think I followed you halfway around the world for the pleasure of your conversation? I have my own business. Family business, you could say, that needs wrapping up." There was something odd in D's voice, but Leon couldn't quite pinpoint it. D just lay on the bed with his eyes closed while Leon dressed.  
  
Leon had never had a relationship. Oh, he'd dated once in a while, the guys back at the police station had frequently teased Leon about his lack of success with the women. It was rumor around the station that Jill was the only woman that could stand to be around Leon for more than one night and that was pretty much the truth.   
  
Fear of abandonment. Leon had read that in a psychological textbook for one of his classes in college. It didn't take a genius to figure it all out. When Leon's mother had died and he'd been so casually sent away by his aunt and uncle, who'd kept Chris, Leon had come to the conclusion, in his child's logic, that he was meant to be alone. No one wanted him and that hurt. Therefore, Leon wouldn't let himself care about anyone who might cause him pain by leaving. As Leon had grown up, he'd shied away from romance of any kind and gone for plain sex. Family was kept at a far distance, across country.   
  
Suddenly, into Leon's life had popped Jill. Leon could accept Jill, she had no romantic interest in him, for an obvious reason. Leon had learned to deal with Jill, opening himself up just enough to be an effective partner. Chris was a little more difficult. Family was supposed to be cared about, especially a child as young as Chris. Leon couldn't NOT care about Chris, Chris needed Leon like no one else in the whole world needed him. Little by little, Chris had won his place in Leon's heart. Then came D.  
  
Leon couldn't even begin to think how he could classify their relationship. Far more than friends, but not really anything else. He found himself running to D when something went wrong. He went to D for advice and a refuge from the world when he just couldn't take it anymore. D meant more to Leon than almost anyone else and Leon cared for the man...not that he would admit it. He wouldn't let himself care. If he did, D was sure to leave, too. Leon would wake up one morning and find the petshop empty, D vanished into the night without a trace.  
  
'I couldn't handle that.' Leon thought, taking another look at D's porcelain face. 'Best to keep a distance. Then he won't run away.' Always at arms reach, D couldn't hurt Leon if Leon didn't let him get close. Not that it really mattered to D. Even if Leon was willing to do something, D was far out of his reach. There was no way that someone like D could ever want someone like Leon.  
  
"I'll see ya later." Leon said before he left D's bedroom, not waiting for an answer. He didn't want to think about D right then, there was work to be done. He'd have to figure out what to do about D later.  
  
D didn't make say a word when Leon left.  
  
As much as Leon appreciated the nap, he really had to go. Just one more check in with Chris and then he'd go back to work. First he'd find out where Jill was and then they'd go back to the Souma estate to have a look around. Leon would have to ask around to find out if that blonde guy with the kids was the mysterious Kureno that he kept looking for but Leon felt he was very close to finding out what was going on.  
  
On his way to the front room, Leon passed Chris' room and decided to do as D had said and look in on the boy. 'Won't hurt just to peek in on him.' Leon decided, though he hoped Chris was still asleep. After the day the poor kid had, he deserved to sleep for about a week.  
  
As Leon had hoped, Chris was fast asleep and the only light in the room was that which fell through the door Leon had opened. A quick glance at his watch told Leon that it was nearly nine o'clock at night. Chris looked angelic when he was asleep, Leon had decided that long ago. He looked just like a cherub you'd see in a painting of heaven. Sleeping on the bed, tucked under Chris' arm, was Tet-chan. Leon didn't like Tet-chan, he never had, but he didn't try to move Tet-chan. After all, it was Tet-chan who'd somehow found Chris and saved him. As far as Leon was concerned, Tet-chan was a hero.  
  
Tet-chan was going to get some prime steak for dinner from Leon.  
  
Tet-chan woke up the instant the door had opened and his eyes flew open, focusing on Leon like lasers in the half-darkness. When he saw who it was, Tet-chan seemed to relax a bit.  
  
"Just me." Leon said softly, so as not to wake Chris. "He okay?"  
  
In response, Tet-chan licked Chris' face and the little boy didn't so much as move.  
  
Leon shook his head and sighed. "I guess this means I have to be nicer to you, huh? Damned goat." Leon didn't want to admit his debt to Tet-chan, but he would.  
  
Tet-chan didn't try to attack Leon, for once, but he lay his head back down and closed his eyes. Leon knew that he couldn't ask for a better protector than the one sleeping on Chris' bed. Leon left the room and carefully closed the door behind him.  
  
The step was to call Jill and find out if she was ready to go back on the case. Yes, Leon was ready to admit it. He needed Jill. No matter how much he wanted to protect her, if she'd been with him at the Souma estate when he'd been shot, Chris wouldn't have been kidnapped. Leon wasn't too proud to admit that, especially since he knew how good Jill was.  
  
Leon found the front room, this time, quite easily and wondered how he'd missed it the first time. Jill, Leon found out after a call from the phone in the front room, was at Ayame's place with Mine-chan and was going to meet him at the Souma estate in one hour. There was no way that Jill was going to let Leon keep searching for the Black Scorpion on his own.  
  
Leon and Jill got back onto the Souma estate the same way Leon had the first time and all he could think of was that whoever was in charge of security should really think of hiring people who knew what they were doing. It was laughably easy to climb over the wall that surrounded the whole Souma estate. For obvious reasons, there were more people wandering around than there had been last time, but it was still easy enough to sneak around them. Unfortunately, Leon had about as much idea as what he was looking for as he did the last time.  
  
It was only coincidence that he happened to wander into one of the houses. Maybe it was more than coincidence, but Leon didn't dwell on that. His instincts, by which he lived, were woken when he was walking by the house with a large pile of empty plates piled up outside the front door.  
  
'I'm sure that's not normal.' Leon thought with a frown. The house looked deserted, but for the empty plates which had obviously just been put there. 'Why would anyone just leave plates in front of their doorway?'  
  
Apparently Jill had the same thought as she went to take a closer look, peering into one of the windows. "Leon," Jill whispered, motioned with her head for Leon to come take a closer look.  
  
At the Souma Estate-  
  
Shigure-  
  
What Shigure found in the Rooster's house, it didn't seem right to call it Kureno's house as he never lived there, was something that he'd never expected.  
  
Children.  
  
More than a dozen children all waiting quietly and most of them sitting on the floor of the Roster's house. He just couldn't understand it. Why would Kureno bring all these children to the estate? They certainly weren't Souma's. It wasn't like something Akito would order.  
  
Though the black mood Shigure was in hadn't dissipated in the least, but now there was a new worry thrown in. Cautiously, Shigure made his way into the house, thankful that Kureno had left the door unlocked. It was easy enough to get the door open, he still had the mind of a human, after all. When Shigure walked into the main room of the Rooster's house, all eyes of the children swiveled to look at him. All cold, nearly dead eyes staring at Shigure and he didn't know what to think. All these children...where...?  
  
"A dog." It was a simple statement from one of the younger children. A girl with red braids who crawled on her hands and knees to Shigure and looked him right in the face. She was very young, probably no more than ten or so, but there was such tragedy in her eyes. Life had just been too much for her to bear. She reached up at Shigure and put both her hands on the sides of his head. "Nice dog." She muttered.  
  
An older boy, a bare chested boy with a tattoo of a scorpion marring his chest, made a slashing gesture with one hand and a soft hissing noise. Immediately, the girl backed away from Shigure, though everyone still watched him.  
  
'This is...odd.' Shigure thought. 'What could they all be doing here?' He didn't recognize a single one of them. The children did nothing, they simply sat where they were. At first, Shigure thought that they might be apart of some gang, several of them had the black scorpion tattooed on them, so maybe it was a kind of rite the gang members had to go through. The more he thought about that possibility, though, the more unlikely it seemed. It just didn't fit.  
  
"Hello? Is anyone in there? Kureno-san?" The voice drew Shigure's attention at least partly away from the children as he turned and looked at the still open door. The door was pushed open slightly and a bald man peered inside. His gaze fell first on the many children. "What the...oh, Shigure-san." He seemed to catch himself quickly and broke off, not giving away Shigure's identity to the children before he came all the way in, carrying a large tray in his hands. The tray was laden with such a vast amount of food that Shigure wondered how Akito's chef had managed to carry it all the way to the Rooster's house. As not only Akito's chef, but also head of the household for Akito, the chef knew about the Zodiac curse. In this case, it could be useful.  
  
So as to not show anything to the children that they shouldn't know about, Shigure barked at the chef a couple of times. It was a clear enough signal that he wouldn't be talking. The chef took Shigure's rather obvious hint and smiled. "Well, I guess all this food's for you kids, huh?" He turned his attention to the children who all watched him wearily. When no one answered him, the chef laughed nervously and put the tray of food on the large living room table. "Ummm, yes. Well. Right. You kids enjoy the meal Kureno-san sent for you." When he at last turned back to Shigure. He said nothing, but nodded solemnly and left. It didn't matter, he knew enough to keep his mouth shut about what went on in the inner house of the Souma Estate and what little he had said told Shigure what he needed to know. Kureno had brought these children here and had ordered food for them, a sign that he wanted them taken care of.  
  
Once the chef had left, Shigure followed him out. "Wait!" He called, running out to meet the chef. "What do you know about those children? Who are they?"  
  
The chef bowed, respectfully. "I'm sorry, Shigure-san, but I really don't know anything. Kureno-san called me less than an hour ago and asked me to bring all that food to his house. I expected him to be there. He didn't say anything about all those children on the phone. Should I try to contact Akito-sama? I'd heard he wasn't feeling well again..."  
  
"No, no. That won't be necessary. I'll take care of this." Shigure looked back at the Rooster's house. Akito couldn't do anything now. He would have to handle this himself. "Keep quiet about what you saw, though. This in Inner House business." Shigure only said that because he really wasn't sure what was going on and it was better to be safe than sorry. Saying that something was Inner House business was a sure way to keep gossip to a bare minimum.  
  
As expected, the chef nodded obediently and headed away. Shigure made his way back into the Rooster's house where all the children were now silently eating. How strange to see so many children eating like condemned prisoners; silent and eating without even tasting their food. Like the nice, tame dog he was, Shigure lay down discretely in the doorway and just watched the children.  
  
"What are we going to do now?" One of the smaller children asked the boy who handed her some food.  
  
"We wait." The teenage boy answered calmly. "We have nothing else to do." The tattooed boy spoke very softly, kind of like Yuki's gentle tone, but with hint's of Kyou's fire. "We'll stay until he comes back."  
  
"Who was he, Omi?"  
  
"Don't know." Omi bit into an apple, eating the stem and leaf along with the apple, which Shigure found most interesting. He filed away that little bit of information. It could be useful. "He was with that other, person. That orange haired boy that turned into a monster. Guess he's the boss now." He didn't even sound curious, really. "Who else are we gonna follow?"  
  
Shigure's ears perked up at the obvious mention of Kyou. How many other orange haired boys turned into monsters? Worry began to gnaw at Shigure again, that all these children had seen Kyou transform. This wasn't at all good. If so many children had learned about Kyou, then who else had seen? Surely Kureno had taken care of anyone who might be a danger to the family. Still...what if he hadn't? What if someone had been forgotten? Kyou had not been in the best state of mind when Shigure had watched him stagger away from home, there was no telling what he'd done. Kureno hadn't said anything when they'd all been with Akito just moments ago, but then he probably hadn't been thinking about it what with Akito being so close to death.  
  
They all stayed like this a long while, the children staying mostly silent and cleaned the large platter of food and Shigure left the room.  
  
Shigure left the children while they were still eating. His time was running out before he changed back into a human and there was no point in compounding Kyou's sin by letting all the children see him transform, so Shigure made his way into the bedroom and waited. His depression over what was happening with Akito was slowly lifting and now his sense of duty was starting to reassert itself. Whether Akito hated him or not, Shigure had a responsibility to the rest of the family. He didn't know where these children had come from or what they were doing here, but he knew they wouldn't be here without Kureno's permission. Shigure had to at least stay with them and make sure they didn't go anywhere until Hatori could deal with them.  
  
At that moment, safe in a room away from where the children were eating, Shigure transformed with a slight explosion and a puff of grey smoke. Shigure, completely naked, sat in the room just next to where the children were still eating. He expected the usual reaction, for them to demand of each other what that noise was and then come rushing to see what was going on. Instead, as near as Shigure could tell as he peered through the small crack in the doorway, none of them moved to even look. They turned for a moment to see what was going on, but didn't choose to investigate.   
  
"Should we see what that was?" One of them asked.  
  
"No." It was the older boy, Omi, who answered, dully. "Remember what happened the last time we went to check on those gunshots? We don't need to look for trouble." All of them went back to eating.  
  
It was good, if mysterious. Their inattention gave Shigure time to sneak off to one of the other rooms in the house and rifle though the belongings of the previous rooster for clothes. He managed to find a simple kimono that had belonged to the rooster before Kureno. The kimono was dusty from disuse, but still serviceable. On the side of caution, Shigure didn't go back into the room with the children again. Shigure kept quiet and just watched them from the adjoining room from a small space in the doorway.  
  
Several hours passed like this. When the children ran out of food, many of them settled back to sleep, but some stayed quietly awake, peering out the windows occasionally. Then, after a while, the sleeping ones would wake and the ones who had stayed awake would go to sleep. They were taking shifts, Shigure realized. Shigure had never seen children so unnaturally quiet and it unnerved him.  
  
There was a knock at the door and Shigure shifted his position so he could see the doorway. When the door slid open, it revealed a not so unexpected sight.  
  
'Orcot-san and Jill-san.' Shigure thought as he looked at the man and woman who stood, staring at the children. He was sure he'd heard Jill-san's family name when they'd been introduced but he couldn't seem to remember it. 'I should have known that they'd be involved, somehow. They came here with Count D, after all. Ayame had been writing to Orcot-san for years. I wonder how far back this was all planned.' Was Orcot-san working for Count D or was it all just a coincidence that Orcot-san should know both of them?   
  
Of course, Orcot-san and Jill-san might have their own agenda. With half of the Souma family missing, it would be a great opportunity for someone with a grudge against the Souma's to threaten them. In this modern age of laws and civility, there wasn't much chance of some enemy trying to storm the estate walls, but Shigure worried, still. No one as wealthy as the Souma family could go long without enemies and the Souma family had many years to make many enemies. It was entirely possible, though a bit of a stretch, that Orcot's entire friendship with Ayame had been nothing but a ruse to get him into the Souma's good graces. Unlikely, but possible.  
  
For a moment, no one spoke. The children and the two adults just stared at each other. Then the big, blonde American shook his head. "Well...Hell." He spoke with a kind of resignation in his tone. The voice of a man who'd seen exactly what he'd expected, but hoped to not, to see.  
  
Shigure wasn't sure what was going on, but this couldn't be good for the Souma family. For the first time since Akito had been dragged away by Count D, Shigure felt his misery fully shift to the back of his mind. There would be time for self-pity later. Now, with Akito and Hatori gone, Shigure had to worry about the family. Friends of Ayame or not, Orcot-san and Jill-san were outsiders and they had no business being on the estate, let alone in the Inner House. Ayame said that these two were police officers, which meant that they might discover things they shouldn't. Shigure couldn't allow himself to be depressed, not when the family might be in danger.  
  
For now, Shigure would watch and see what they wanted.  
  
Jill-san blinked behind her glasses, but didn't relax her tense stance. "Hiya, kids." She said in a bright voice, looking around. Her gaze was intense, lingering on every single child as she looked around the room. "I'm afraid we're a bit lost. My name's Jill and this is my friend, Leon. I don't suppose you could tell us where Souma Ayame is?"  
  
Not a single one of the children spoke up, but watched Jill-san as wearily as she watched them.  
  
"Don't be shy," Jill-san said, stepping forward cautiously. "We don't bite." Her eyes fastened, just for a moment, on the tattoo on the chest of the boy called Omi. "That's quite the tattoo." She commented in a careless voice. "Where'd you get it?"  
  
Omi didn't answer.  
  
"I suppose your parents know about it? Could I talk with them?" When she still didn't get a response, Jill-san laughed. "Ah, you're good kids. You don't talk with strangers. That's a good. Smart, too. We could be dangerous. We're not, though. We're police officers, so you can trust us." She stepped closer to the children again, this time, there was a visible reaction. Though Omi, and the others with the Black Scorpion tattoo didn't move, many of the younger children began to inch away, their faces becoming more blank, if that was at all possible. The message was clear. They didn't want her getting to close. Jill-san took the hint and didn't try to get any close, though she did keep speaking.  
  
All this time, Orcot-san was quietly looking around. For some reason, it struck Shigure as being out of character for Orcot-san though he'd only known the man for a few minutes.  
  
"Jill," Orcot-san called, drawing attention to himself for the first time since he'd walked into the house. He was standing at the couch where a young boy was sleeping. At least he looked like he was sleeping, Shigure knew better. He could still smell the blood. When Orcot-san looked up from the boy to Jill-san, he looked worried and more than a little angry. "This kid's been shot. He needs to go to the hospital."  
  
Without hesitation, Jill-san pulled a cell phone out of her jacket pocket and hit a single button. How practical, Shigure couldn't help but to be impressed. She'd only arrived in Japan a day or so ago and she'd already put the hospital on her speed dial. If they were going to call the hospital then they were surely going to call the police.  
  
"Hello? Can I help you?" Shigure slid the door open after standing and smiled at Jill-san and Orcot-san. The police could not be allowed to get involved. That might cause a scandal and bringing the Souma family to the attention of the public would not be an especially good idea for any reason. "Oh, my! Look at all the children!" He looked around, as if he'd only just seen them, and feigned surprise as well as he could. Then he looked back at Orcot-san and Jill-san. "What's going on?"  
  
Orcot-san spoke this time, but didn't move from the side of the injured boy. "Shigure-san, right? Ayame's friend?"  
  
"Yes." Shigure walked confidently over to Orcot-san and down at the wounded boy. Of course Shigure had already looked the boy over, when he was in the form of a dog, and didn't believe that the child would die. The wound was minor and closing itself already. "Don't bother with the hospital." Shigure told Jill-san. "We have a fully trained physician living on the estate. I'll give you her number." He told Jill-san the number and waited patiently while she called Hatori's newest intern. While young, the girl was a Souma and could be counted on to keep things like this quiet.  
  
After that was done, Jill-san looked at Shigure with hard eyes. "I don't suppose you could answer a few questions?"  
  
It occurred to Shigure not to say anything. They were American's and far out of their jurisdiction. He could tell them to get off the estate. That might not be the wisest course of action. They would simply alert the Japanese police and then this whole mess would be thrown right into the public eye; not a good scenario. "Sure." Shigure smiled, hoping that his talent for lies wouldn't fail him. "I don't know what I can tell you. I've been sleeping and I just woke up. They weren't here when I went to sleep."  
  
"So this is your house?" Orcot-san asked from where he was keeping an eye on the wounded boy, while he still monitored the other children. He seemed nervous and Shigure wondered what Orcot-san and Jill-san knew about these children. They seemed almost afraid of the children.  
  
"Yes." It was a short answer, but on that was good enough. No need to give away excess information.  
  
"And you don't know any of these children?" This question came from Jill-san.  
  
"No. None of them are part of my family." It would have been nice if Shigure could try to convince Ayame's friends that the children were Souma's and have them just go away, but that would only lead to problems further on. That lie was to easily uncovered. The best Shigure could hope for was that the children wouldn't mention Kyou's monster. If nothing else, it would be difficult to prove that Kyou had turned into a monster. 'If we ever see Kyou again...' Shigure's mind was till partly sunk into despair about what he'd done to his family.  
  
Orcot-san, still kneeling next to the hurt boy, spoke to the children this time. "Well? Haven't any of you got anything to say? Where are you from?"  
  
"The Pit." This answer came from one of the smaller girls. She was such an ugly child. Shigure had once thought that there was no such thing as an ugly child, but this poor girl had a ruined face. Her face that should have been sweet and innocent was lined with scars, one that went right over her lips. It would take major surgery for this child to ever be pretty.  
  
"Don't!" One of the other children hissed at her.  
  
"Why not?" The girl asked. "We don't have orders to follow anymore. Not theirs. They're dead."  
  
Omi nodded. "True." He thought for a bit and looked at Orcot-san. "What do you want to know?"  
  
"Who's orders do you follow? What's the Pit?" Orcot-san asked eagerly.  
  
"We follow Kureno, now. He found us and took us away from the Pit. The Pit is..." He seemed at a loss for words and just shrugged. "The Pit."  
  
"Are you all that came from the Pit?" Jill-san asked, looking around. "Were there any other children?"  
  
"Yes." Omi answered. "There were lots more of us. I guess they're still there."  
  
Orcot-san leaned forward. "Can you take me there?"  
  
Shigure, who'd added nothing more to the conversation, elected to stay behind, saying that he didn't want to get involved in something that was clearly not his business. While both Orcot-san and Jill-san gave him disapproving looks, they said nothing and prepared to leave with Omi. It was only sensible, though they both obviously didn't want to take the boy.  
  
"You don't know how to get there." Omi had said. "And the others won't let you see them if you show up alone." He took it all in stride, not looked pleased or displeased about what was happening. He didn't even look at the other children before they all walked away and Shigure was once again left alone with the children.  
  
Shigure was glad to see them go and not at all upset that they seemed to think he was a coward. Maybe he was. Surely someone brave would be doing more than just hiding. Yes, Shigure knew that was what he was doing. He was hiding from his family. "You can all stay for a spell." Shigure smiled carelessly at the children. "I'm sure you're all tired from whatever you've gone through. Get some rest, why don't you?"  
  
"Where's Kureno?" One of the children asked. "He said he was coming back."  
  
"Ah, well, he's had some business to attend to. I'm sure he'll be back as soon as he can." It was as close to the truth as Shigure was willing to get. When he realized that the children wouldn't be moving any time soon, Shigure stepped out of the house and into the front garden. He pitied those children and was more than a little curious as to what had made them all so lifeless. Thoughts began to swirl around Shigure's mind and, to use up time, he tried organizing all of them.   
  
He would not go to Akito. Akito surely didn't want to see him, now. He would keep an eye on these children who'd seen Kyou's true form. He would tell Ayame that Orcot-san was someone to be careful of, though Ayame likely wouldn't listen. He would, as soon as this whole incident with the children was taken care of, go to Count D and find out how Kyou was doing. It would be easy enough to follow Kagura and Ritsu's scent.  
  
Yes, that was a good plan.  
  
"So..." The silence was broken by Ayame's voice and Shigure tensed. "Rin was right?" When Shigure finally turned to look at Ayame, he saw that Ayame was holding the ancient diary of the cursed dogs. He was looking steadily at Shigure and his eyes were cold. In the night, with only light from the windows of the house to see by, Ayame was haunting. In his long robes, moved by a gentle breeze, and his hair that made him look even more ethereal than usual, Ayame looked like a creature out of some fairy tale come to life. "You knew, all along, what we were? You never told us? Not even me or 'Tori?" The hurt in his voice made Shigure feel guilty all over again.  
  
"I never told anyone." Shigure answered honestly. He turned away from Ayame again and stared into the darkness. He knew he'd done the right thing, but why did the right thing have to hurt so much? "It was my secret."  
  
"Didn't you trust us? Me?"  
  
Another sharp stab of pain went through Shigure's heart. "I wasn't supposed to tell you. That was the whole point of the diary, to keep it all a secret. It wasn't that I didn't trust you, Aya, but the others would have found out. They'd have learned everything about Count D and they'd have gone looking for him. Can you imagine Akito, thinking to take revenge on a Kami? He'd do it, too. At least he'd try." Shigure sat down on the stone bench just outside the house and put stared out at the lights from the houses on the estate. It never got really dark on the estate. Despite the fact that everyone in the family hated him, Shigure felt as if a massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders just from telling the secret he'd carried for more than fifteen years. "The whole family, all the family money, used to find Count D. Then what? What would happen once he was found? I was afraid he'd kill us all and finish what he'd started. I thought, I hoped it was best to keep us a secret, to keep us in hiding. Our lives aren't pleasant, sometimes, but it's not as if it's unbearable. We're all alive and we all have hope for the future. It's better than being imprisoned by a Kami who only wanted the cat for who know's what reason. It's better than being dead."  
  
"So, instead you give Akito to him?" Ayame sounded genuinely puzzled about this, but Shigure still didn't turn around. "If you were so afraid of him, why'd you give up Akito without a fight? Why didn't you warn us, we're all smart enough to keep this kind of information from Akito and knowing what was going on would have helped us to avoid him."  
  
"I did fight." Shigure let out a bitter laugh. "I attacked Count D when he came to my home and it was absolutely useless. He had me flat on my face in the dirt without even touching me. I couldn't lay a finger on him. Do you understand? We're completely helpless. He'd have stolen Akito away if we didn't agree and then someone would have gotten hurt defending Akito. It wasn't this Count D that cursed us, anyway. He said as much at the house. Have you read the diary?"  
  
"Bits, here and there. How long have you known all this?" Shigure could practically hear Ayame thinking, 'How long have you been lying and deceiving us?'  
  
"Since I was ten. Toma left it to me before he died. It seems that it's the cat's responsibility to give the diary to the dog."  
  
Ayame fell silent. How much stress was poor Ayame under? He'd had not only Akito taken away, but also Hatori, whom he loved as dearly as he loved his own life. There was one other person who was still missing. "Where's Yuki?" Ayame demanded, at last. "He wasn't at your house, Hatsuharu said, and..."  
  
"Haru?"  
  
"Rin sent him to find the book. He said you just left it laying around on your desk. He also said Kyou's room was destroyed and that there was no one around." There was anger in Ayame's voice, something Shigure rarely heard and never aimed at him, as it was now. "Where's my brother?"  
  
"He's with Count D. So is Kyou and Tohru." Shigure took a deep breath, knowing what was about to come. It was one thing to let Akito be taken away, but that he hadn't said anything about Yuki going to Count D, that was surely unforgivable. "If you want to leave now, I understand. I'd hate me, too, if I were in your shoes."  
  
"You idiot." The words weren't harsh or cold, as Shigure had expected them to be. Shockingly, Ayame put his arms around Shigure and sat next to him on the stone bench. "A long time ago Hatori and I made you a promise. You were sick with a fever that night, so maybe you don't even remember it. The night Yuki and Kyou were born, when my mother died and Kyou's mother started to lose her mind. That night, you asked us to forgive you for what you were going to do. You said you were going to do something awful and that you wouldn't be able to forgive yourself, so you wanted us to forgive you, instead." Ayame pressed his lips to Shigure's cheek, just like many fond kisses they'd shared over the years. "We promised to forgive you, no matter what you did. I never break my word."  
  
Shigure nearly cried when Ayame pulled him in close and held him. He didn't understand how Ayame could forgive so easily. The memory Ayame was talking about only half seemed real to Shigure and he had almost convinced himself that it was a dream. "How can you say that? Yuki..."  
  
It was Ayame's turn to sigh, sadly. "Yuki is far more grown-up than I would like him to be. He grew up a long time ago and he makes his own choices. I suppose that's my fault, really. I didn't want him when he was younger and now he doesn't need me. If you say Yuki went to Count D willingly, then I believe you. Did he go after Kyou?"  
  
"Yes, and Tohru."  
  
Ayame smiled slightly and rested his head on Shigure's shoulder. "I could have guessed. I'm glad to know they're together."   
  
"How can you not hate me when I hate myself?" Shigure asked.  
  
"Hate? Shigure, right now I'm absolutely furious that you didn't tell me my baby brother might be in horrible danger. I'm irate that you've sent Hatori off to heaven knows where. I'm hurt that you didn't trust me enough to tell me what was going on. I will NEVER hate you." Ayame leaned over just enough to look into Shigure's lowered eyes. "Even if the whole world were against you, I'd be there for you. Remember?" The words, once spoken in jest, were now very serious.  
  
Shigure felt like a fool for doubting Ayame's generous heart. "Thanks, Aya."  
  
The next thing Ayame said, he said quietly, as if afraid that Shigure would argue with him. "We need to go to them. Even if you don't want to see Akito, the children are there and might need us. We, the rest of the family, are going over as soon as I get back to them. If you want to come, you're welcome."  
  
Shigure shook his head. "And have Rin glaring at me, spitting swears at me the whole way? I can do without that." In truth, Shigure honestly didn't think he deserved a place with his family anymore. He would do his best for them, but after what he'd done, it would be best for him to stay away for a while.  
  
Ayame said nothing else to persuade Shigure and Shigure was glad. Before Ayame left him, they sat together for a long time, the moon full above them and the quiet chirping of crickets all around.  
  
Elsewhere-  
  
Jill-  
  
Jill didn't like it, not one little bit. This was the reason they'd come to Japan, but Jill would have felt a whole lot better with a whole team of armed officers behind her. Instead, it was just Leon, Jill, and a kid who couldn't have been more than seventeen at the very most. They walked down the streets of the city, quickly going from the nicer part of town where the Souma estate was located to the rundown slums. It was a much darker atmosphere and Jill was getting more nervous with each passing moment.  
  
'This is just intelligence gathering.' Jill reminded herself. 'We're not going to do anything heroic; that's the job of local police. We just find out what needs to be reported.' Jill was more than a little afraid that Leon, who was so consumed by the Black Scorpion, would lose his control, but so far Leon was handling himself very well. The boy who was leading them to this place, 'the Pit', looked as if he were doing nothing more than going out for an afternoon stroll. 'Then again, this is his home. If you can call it that.'  
  
The boy, Omi, led them to an old building that looked deserted. All the windows were boarded up and there was a ton of garbage in the alley in front of the building. It looked like an old factory or something. "This is it?" Jill asked.  
  
Omi nodded and didn't stop walking. Words meant very little to him. The moment Omi opened the front door of the building the stench of decay hit them like a brick between the eyes. Even Omi flinched and Leon began cursing vilely.  
  
"Death." Leon muttered. He was right. In their line of work, Leon and Jill had seen more than their fair share of death and they'd gotten a good whiff of it, too. This was like every homicide case they'd been on, but magnified. "What happened here?"  
  
"They all died." Omi said. He barely paused after opening the door before he went into the halls and leading them around and around the winding corridors until they finally came to a huge arena. That was the only word Jill could think of to describe it. Arena or slaughter pit. The decay was old, but no more than a day or so. The bodies were starting to attract flies and dozen upon dozen of rats were feeding upon the corpses.  
  
"They were armed." Leon, with a hand over his mouth, nudged an assault rifle with his toe very carefully. "These guys weren't playing games, Jill." For a homicide detective, Leon had notoriously weak stomach and the sight of blood could easily turn him green. Jill knew that only sheer willpower was keeping Leon from throwing up right on the stop. "Christ, there's kids here." Leon did turn a darker shade of green when he saw a little girl's body laying face down in the sand.  
  
"That was Suki." Omi supplied in his dull voice. "They shot her." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the corpses in the arena. If it bothered him at all, Omi didn't show it other than by kicking a rat off the little girl's left leg.  
  
"Who were they?" Jill asked, trying to keep this professional. There would be time to have nightmares about the child later.  
  
"The owner and the guards." Omi said. "They were going to kill Kureno, I think."  
  
"What was Kureno doing here?"  
  
Omi just shrugged. "He came here and took us away."  
  
They were a strange assortment of bodies, from a professional viewpoint. Men and women, one woman dressed very shabbily, one man dressed in a suit that probably cost several thousand dollars, men and women in loose uniforms, and one child. It wasn't hard to guess whom the owner was or what he was owner of: the children.  
  
"Let's get outta here." Leon said, when the stench had gotten too much for him. He looked down at the body of the girl. "I wish we could take her out of here. Put her someplace a little...cleaner."  
  
"We can't disturb the evidence, Leon." Jill reminded. She didn't like it, either. It seemed very wrong to leave the child here with her killers.   
  
"Yeah, I know. So, does this place have an office or something, Omi? A place where they'd keep records?"  
  
"Yes." Omi led them through one of the doors, but paused when Leon wasn't following immediately. It was an incredibly complex system, Jill thought when Omi showed them various rooms around the Pit. There was a huge shower bathroom combination that reeked of urine and a kitchen that looked as if it hadn't been cleaned in years and, finally, a large office with a big desk and a computer.  
  
As Jill was far better with computers than Leon, it was she who sat at the desk and began to type away, looking for information. If they were lucky this was the entire ring of the Black Scorpion and they were all dead out there. They weren't lucky.  
  
"Shit!" Jill cursed, slamming her fist down on the desk.  
  
"What is it?" Leon asked, coming to stand behind Jill so he could look at the computer screen over her shoulder.  
  
Jill scowled darkly at the screen. "This place was a breeding ground for the Black Scorpion, Leon. They supplied some of the children, but not all. This was a fighting ring. The customers paid to see little kids kill each other." The thought made bile rise in Jill's through, but she calmed herself as quickly as possible and went on. "The good ones, the ones who kept surviving the fights, were sold to the Black Scorpion ring. That's why they're marked with the tattoo, so no one else would buy them."  
  
Leon looked at the screen and all the names of contacts, hundreds of phone numbers, and addresses. "This...this could take years." He said, realizing the extent of the mission he'd set himself. Then his face hardened and Jill knew what he was thinking. No matter how many years, no matter how big the task, Leon would destroy the Black Scorpion. "Do you know what that means?" Leon asked Omi, who stood calmly in the doorway listening to everything, in a dreadfully quiet voice.  
  
"Yes." Omi's answer was as untroubled as if they'd asked him what he'd had for breakfast. "It means that I was to become an assassin. I was at the end of my training when all this happened." He didn't seem troubled when he asked, "Do you think I will still be an assassin?"  
  
"No." Leon answered quickly. "No way."  
  
"Oh. Then, what will happen to me?"  
  
Neither Jill nor Leon had an answer for that. Who would adopt a seventeen-year-old boy with obvious emotional troubles who had been trained to kill? What kind of job could he get? Maybe he would end up starving on the streets. "You said there were other kids?" Jill asked. They would have to talk with child welfare to see what could be done for the children. Hopefully, they wouldn't be lost in the system.  
  
It turned out that there were sixteen other kids and they were waiting in a large sleeping room. It was hardly a fit place for dogs to sleep and Jill was angry on behalf of these children who didn't know how badly they were being treated. None of them tried to run away, luckily.  
  
"What's happening?" A little boy, far younger than Omi, asked. He had sharp, bright eyes concealed under his long hair. "There's no water and no food. Why's everyone dead?"  
  
"This is your rescue party, kid." Jill came forward and took careful count of the children. They were all too thin, that was Jill's first thought. They needed fattening up. "Are there anymore of you around?"  
  
The boy shook his head, no.  
  
Jill turned and faced Leon, standing very close so as to keep their voices low. "Well, what are we going to do with them? We are NOT leaving them here." That was a point Jill knew she wouldn't have to argue with Leon about. He looked ill just being in this Hell-hole.  
  
"I say we take them back to that Shigure guy. He seems like he'd be okay with a house full of kids. We leave them there for a bit until the police finish here and come to collect them. Then child welfare can find a place for them."  
  
Two weeks later-  
  
Kyou-  
  
Kyou woke up very slowly and he felt as if he were wrapped up in a blanket. Wrapped far to tightly, he felt like a mummy wrapped up in gauze bandages, every part of him was bound still and Kyou didn't like it one little bit.   
  
Kyou began to push and twist, trying to find his way out of the blanket. Kyou was starting to remember more than the dreams, more than the painful and pleasant memories he'd been seeing over and over while he slept. He was in Count D's petshop. Count D had said something about making Kyou more powerful, powerful enough to keep his freedom.   
  
Blind and deaf to the world around him, Kyou kept pushing against whatever it was that he was wrapped in. It wasn't so much of a blanket, really. It felt stretchy against his hands.   
  
Hands? Yes, hands and not claws. He'd taken the bracelet off, he should be the monster right now.   
  
Kyou didn't like this at all. He felt like he couldn't breath. He couldn't even speak. 'Let me out!' Kyou thought fiercely. He struggled against his mysterious bonds, though he didn't lose his temper. That was strange, Kyou was able to stay focused without the usual fury overtaking him. Little by little, Kyou felt the wrapping around him begin to give way.  
  
To be continued... 


	26. The Death Room

A/N: Dear readers,  
  
Terribly sorry about the delay, I couldn't get onto the site yesterday. I hope no one minds. We're going back in time a little bit with this chapter. I remembered, after posting the last chapter, that we'd left Leon and Jill at the Pit and poor Kazuma didn't know what the heck was going on. So, here we are with them.  
  
Warning: gets a little ugly at the Pit.  
  
Chapter 26:   
  
Two weeks previously, at the Pit-  
  
Leon-  
  
It didn't take Leon or Jill long to get their wits together at the Pit. There was too much to do just to sit around with their mouths agape like raw recruits on their first homicide scene. "Police?" Jill asked, keeping her voice low.  
  
"Yup." Though Leon wanted dearly to have a hand in bringing down the Black Scorpion, he knew that they'd have to call the local police in on this, now. While Jill pulled out her cell phone and spoke softly to whoever answered, Leon's eyes scanned over the children they'd just found. They weren't all starved and frightened, as he'd half expected them to look. How else would a bunch of kids look who were forced, according to Omi, to fight for their lives? They should be cowering in fear from anything that moved and looking like little skeletons. Instead, all the kids were of a normal weight, though nearly all of them bore wounds of one kind or another. Most were simple bruises and scars, but there were other, worse injuries.   
  
One boy, perhaps thirteen years old, had a bandage wrapped under his chin and then up around his head. There was a small stain of blood on the bandage and Leon knew something had happened to the boy's ear.  
  
"What the Hell are you talking about!?" Jill's enraged voice nearly screamed into her phone. Leon turned to her at once, he'd never heard her so worked up. In fact, is was usually Jill who calmed Leon out of his bursts of temper. "You've gotta be kidding me! What do you mean you aren't coming?" She listened into the phone, her face paling and then turning bright red with fury. "You cold-hearted bast-" She paused and stared at the phone in irate disbelief. "They hung up on me. They actually hung up on me!" Her hand clenched so tightly around her phone that Leon feared it might shatter in her little hand.  
  
Leon's face darkened. He wasn't the most perceptive of men, but he wasn't entirely stupid. "The police won't come?" It wasn't exactly a question.  
  
"They...they said," Jill took a deep breath and tried to control her temper. "Anything that happens in this neighborhood isn't their concern. They're afraid. They wouldn't even listen to me when I said where we were, those..." Jill's language, usually so civilized, degenerated into foul mouthed curses. After a moment, she seemed to get a hold of herself. "Okay. We'll deal with them later. Right now, we've gotta get these kids out of here." Jill's eyes narrowed as she looked around at the grimy, stinking room. It was really no different than the rest of the Pit they'd explored wit the exception of the arena where the paying audience would have sat and the office with all the records. Those places were clean and well-kept.  
  
"I say we take them back to that guy at the Souma estate." Leon said.  
  
Jill frowned, but considered the idea. "Why?"  
  
"The rest of the kids are already there. Where else could we take them? We'll call the cops again, this time tell them to go to the Souma estate." Leon felt his stomach roll at the thought of the cowardly police. "It's in a good neighborhood, so they shouldn't have to worry about getting their hands dirty." He sneered this last.  
  
Jill shrugged. "I haven't got any better ideas. Let's do it. I want to check them out, first. Make sure they're fit enough to walk." She moved a bit closer to Leon and whispered, "We have to be careful. If these kids are trained like Murakai, then they're all dangerous. We don't know what kind of orders they've been given before we got here."  
  
Leon nodded, but he didn't like it. Jill was talking about taking them down, if necessary. If these kids threatened innocent passersby's then they'd have to get rough with the kids and that thought didn't appeal to Leon at all. "Let's do a weapons check while we're at it."  
  
"You read my mind."  
  
In fact, most of the children were more than capable of walking and some looked as if they were capable of running for several miles. Some of the children were a bit too skinny and no one was an ounce overweight, but they were, for the most part, healthy. The only thing that seemed, in Leon's opinion, to be unwell about the children, was their apparent completely lack of fear. The only exceptions were four or five very small kids who couldn't stop crying. These little children were generally ignored by the older ones and huddled together near the back of the room. Not only were most of them not afraid of Leon or Jill, but they didn't seem to care and just let Leon and Jill inspect their bodies.  
  
The short time they'd spent in the office, with Jill tapping away at the computer, they'd found more than enough evidence to not only make the Black Scorpion headline news all over the world, but also to make them both feel ill. Jill had made copies of all the files and tucked the disks into the pocket of her jacket.  
  
Records of hundreds of kids over nearly twenty years some with a short note attached about how they died. There was only one constant about the files on the children: they had all died. There were files marked 'active' were the children left alive and some were earmarked as Black Scorpion recruits. Jill had found Omi's name in one of those files with a note that he was to be sold to the Black Scorpion in three days.  
  
'He only just made it.' Leon realized, looking over the computer screen at Omi who had stood silently at the door. 'A few more days and he'd have been just like Murakai, a killer.' Leon wondered if Omi knew or even cared how close he'd come to the point of no return. Three days? Could this kid kill now, if so ordered? Leon decided that he would keep a closer eye on Omi. How much practice had Omi had in killing?  
  
Now, in this pitiful excuse for what must be the children's bedroom, Leon wondered if his worry was misplaced. None of the other children seemed to be afraid of Omi and, other than casting him cautious glances, they paid him little attention. Omi had done nothing threatening or even violent since Leon had met him at the Souma estate. A bizarre sort of assassin trainee.  
  
Leon and Jill made their way around the room, taking a quick look at everyone, when Leon found himself at the back of the room and squatting down in front of a little girl with dead, staring eyes. She was wrapped in a thin blanket that covered her from the neck down.  
  
"Hey." Leon said, in way of a greeting.   
  
The little girl didn't answer, but she did look closely at his face. "You look like that kid that was here." She said in a slow voice, as if measuring her words.  
  
"What kid?"  
  
"Suki called him Chris, I think. He's gone, now. I haven't seen him in a while."  
  
Leon had known since Tet-chan had brought Chris home that this was where Chris had been, but the reality of it all still hurt Leon. He hated to think of Chris being in a place like this and was thankful that it had only been for a few hours. It could have been a lot worse if Tet-chan hadn't found Chris when he did. "Chris is my brother. I found him a little while ago and he asked me to come here and help all of you. Who's Suki? Can you tell me what happened here?"  
  
"Suki's dead. They shot her." The little girl said as if it were the most natural thing in the world and nothing to be worried about. "I think she was in the arena. We saw her when we came back. Everyone's dead there. I don't know what to do. We've been here a while and no one's come before you. Do we get to eat now?"  
  
Leon felt a surge of anger when he realized the poor dead child they'd found at the arena with all the dead adults must have been Suki. Now he was going to have to tell Chris that he couldn't save his friend, after all. As hard as it was, Leon tried not to think of the little girl who'd been so callously shot. "Back from where? Where did you go?"  
  
"The outside and around." She told him vaguely. Her eyes shifted uneasily from side to side as if she was nervous just talking to him. Leon wondered if they'd been taught not to speak to adults. Maybe that was apart of why everyone was so quiet. "They let us out sometimes so we can see the sun and have some fresh air, if we're good. We just wander around, sometimes. Sometimes we go up to the roof, you can see the river from up there." The girl looked over Leon's shoulder to where Omi was still standing. "Did Omi bring you here?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Oh." That seemed to mean something to her, but whatever the girl was thinking she kept to herself.  
  
"Do you have family?" Leon asked, more to break the silence than anything else.  
  
The little girl looked at him blankly and just pulled the blanket closer to herself. "Not anymore."  
  
"How about a name? What should I call you?"  
  
"Do you have food?" She deliberately changed the subject.  
  
"When did you last eat?"  
  
"Yesterday."  
  
"I'll get you something when we get out of here." Leon let the subject drop and wondered if that guy, Shigure, would have enough food to give these kids. If they hadn't eaten since yesterday then they were all probably starving. Leon had a couple of hundred yen in his pocket, changed from American money, but he wasn't really sure how much food that would buy. "Don't worry, we won't let anything bad happen to you anymore." Leon tried to sound reassuring, but the little girl didn't look all that impressed by his words. "You think you can walk? We're all going somewhere safe. Away from here."  
  
The word 'safe' didn't seem to mean anything to the little girl. "I can walk." She told Leon hesitantly.  
  
"You don't sound to sure." Leon commented. "Can I take a look at your legs, just to make sure you aren't hurt or anything?"  
  
The little girl's expression didn't change, but she opened up the front of the blanket that covered her. Leon blanched when he saw that she was completely naked but for a pair of underpants and he looked away instinctively. "My foot." Leon looked back when she'd spoken, but kept his eyes firmly on the girl's foot, quickly seeing the problem.  
  
Leon touched the little girl's ankle. Without her clothes, Leon could see that she was probably about ten years old, but she was very small for her age. It looked like these kids were fed just enough to keep them healthy and nothing more. This girl didn't even get enough to keep them healthy. 'Maybe they make the kids fight even for their food. The loser goes hungry.' Leon thought, his thumb rubbing against her protruding ankle. Her ankle had obviously been broken a short while ago, but had healed incorrectly. "Does it hurt?" Leon asked. He would have to get her to a doctor as soon as possible. That thought made Leon wonder how the other kid was doing, the one back at the Souma estate who'd been shot.   
  
"Not much." The girl kept very quiet and her guarded eyes never left Leon's face. "Only when I walk." It looked as if her ankle had broken and no one had ever bothered to have it set properly, resulting in the unnatural angle of her foot. "Did you want sex?"   
  
Leon blinked, not sure he'd heard right, at first. He couldn't have heard that right. Leon had thought that his Japanese was pretty good right up until that moment; he'd never had any misunderstandings before then. "Huh?"  
  
"Sex. Do you want sex?" As if every ten-year-old offered sex. "That's what I'm used for now. I used to fight, but I can't with my ankle. So they let people have me for sex. Is that what you want?"  
  
"NO!" Leon tried not to yell, but he didn't succeed well. His face was burning and Leon quickly pulled the blankets back over the girl to cover her. "Don't even think that again!" Leon knew he shouldn't be insulted, the girl had no idea that what she was talking about was wrong. 'Christ, the kid's been raped. How many times?' Leon was sorry that there was probably no way they'd ever be able to catch the people who'd hurt this poor child so badly. Of course, it wasn't just this girl. Leon glanced around the room and wondered how many of the other kids had been violated. It made his stomach roll just thinking about it. Fighting and killing or allowing themselves to be raped. Those were the only two lives available to the kids. Leon swallowed hard. "You said you were away when all this happened?"  
  
"I was on the roof with some of the others. I can walk enough for that."  
  
"You didn't try to get away? Did you try to find a police officer?" Surely if they were allowed to just wander around, then it would have been easy for at least one of them to get free.  
  
She turned her head, curiously. "Where would I go?" It seemed obvious to her that she had no where to go in life other than to this nightmare.  
  
pulling the blankets back over the girl to cover her.  
  
"Where's your clothes?"  
  
"They took them away." She told Leon. "I didn't need them anymore, they said."  
  
"Didn't need them? Why..." Leon broke off when he realized why they thought she didn't need them anymore. With a ruined ankle, she couldn't fight and was useless. They, whoever they were, didn't plan on giving her any medical attention. She wouldn't need clothes if all she was being used for was a sex toy and why waste clothes on her when she was going to be naked all the time, anyway? Leon gave her the best smile he could manage. "Don't you worry. We'll get you fixed up in no time and you'll be running races with the best of them."  
  
She didn't share his optimism. "It won't get better."  
  
There wasn't a lot that Leon could think of to say to that. He tucked the blanket around her tightly and picked her up with his arms under the girl's knees and around her back. She was light as a feather when Leon picked her up and carried her over to where Jill was sitting with some of the older kids, along with Omi, and scribbling quickly on a little pad of paper she always kept handy.  
  
"You've been here for six years?" Jill was asking a red haired boy with only one ear.  
  
The boy nodded. "I guess so." He, like all the children they'd found, was dressed in plain grey clothes. The missing ear, the boy had told Jill, was yet another result of the fighting they'd done all their lives. "I think I was four when I came here. I can't remember exactly."  
  
"That's okay. We just need to know a few things and you're all doing a great job." She turned then and looked at Leon, a grave look filled with grief for these children. "Are we set?"  
  
"I think so." Leon didn't put down the girl in his arms. It would be cruel to make her walk on a foot like that. "I count twenty-eight kids. You?"  
  
"Same here. With the ones we saw back at the Souma place that makes more than fifty." Neither Jill nor Leon said anything in front of the children about police. It was very likely that they'd been taught to either fear or hate the police as a way of keeping them from going for help. This whole situation would have to be handled very delicately.  
  
Leon was never very good at being delicate.  
  
"Come on!" Leon said, raising his voice until the eyes of all the children were on him. "Let's go." Not a single person moved. "Up on your feet." Leon said, hoping to get at least one of the kids standing. When no one moved, still, Leon frowned. "You don't WANT to stay here, do you?"  
  
The little girl in Leon's arms looked up at him with suddenly amazed eyes. "Do we have a choice?"  
  
"Where do we go?" Another child asked, though Leon wasn't sure who had asked.  
  
Omi saved Leon from having to answer, speaking up in his low, monotone voice. "Everyone's dead. There's no one here to feed us. No more orders to follow. We have to leave. There's a place with another master to follow. He helped kill the owner and the guards. Him and the monster."  
  
The children must have had questions, but they voiced none of them.  
  
Leon wondered about the monster Omi mentioned, but all these kids were so screwed up it was a wondered they didn't see pink elephants walking down the halls. He was glad that they had Omi with them, it seemed that he had some kind of authority among the other children because after he'd spoken, they all started to get up. Some of the children, the younger ones mostly, had to be helped up, but the girl in Leon's arms was the only one who was unable to walk. They all followed Jill, with Leon bringing up the rear with the little girl.  
  
They hadn't gone far when Omi stopped walking and went to a large door on the left side of the hall which had a small window up high.  
  
"What are you doing?" Leon asked when Omi began to fiddle with the door. He was trying to open it, but was having little luck as it was apparently to be locked.  
  
"We shouldn't leave them here. Not if you want everyone." Omi pulled on the door once again before he started to look around on the floor.  
  
"Them? Them who? Jill, wait up!" When he saw that Jill had stopped, and the rest of the children with her, he started looking on the floor, too, though he wasn't sure why. "What are we looking for, kid?"  
  
"The key." Omi found the key after just a moment's search, hidden well under a patch in the floor. At Leon's questioning look, Omi explained, "The guards tend to loose it, so the owner decided to hide keys every few yards. They cut holes in the floors and then cover them up with a little bit of metal." When he unlocked the door, Leon thought that it was empty, at first. The room was completely dark. A closer looked, however, showed Leon a very still figure sitting on a bed on the floor. Omi flipped the light switch and Leon saw that the occupant of the room was a very pretty little girl.  
  
The girl's hair was the color of honey and fell down her shoulder in soft curls. Unlike many of the other children, she looked completely untouched. There wasn't a single scar from what Leon could see. She really was a very pretty little girl, but so still and silent that Leon thought she might have been a doll. She was very young, probably no older than the girl Leon was holding.  
  
"Hikari." Omi said. "We're leaving."  
  
"No orders." Hikari, the beautiful child replied. She made no move to even look at Omi.  
  
"The owners are dead. No orders from them will follow. We must leave."  
  
Hikari focused on Omi, her eyes nearly shining in the darkness. "Dead?"  
  
"Dead. We have to go find new orders." The only thing these children seem to think about was orders. "Come."  
  
When Hikari moved to stand, Leon saw a flash of something under the collar of her loose shirt. "Black Scorpion." He muttered. When the girl and Omi turned quickly to look at him, Leon almost wished he hadn't spoken. They both looked very defensive and Leon knew enough to be careful of them. Now that he'd spoken, he might as well finish his thought. "Are you Black Scorpion, too?"  
  
Hikari and Omi exchanged a glance before the girl pulled down the collar of her shirt just enough for Leon to see the black tattoo on her chest. "I am marked by the Black Scorpion."  
  
"How many more of you are there?" Jill asked as she made her way back to them and had heard everything.  
  
"Five are at that house where we were." Omi said. "Seven more are here."  
  
Seven more children, five boys and two girls, all sharp-eyed and silent as graves were found in just the same manner as Hikari. It turned out that the Black Scorpion children were kept more or less under lock and key. They were far to valuable to be allowed to just wander around like the other children. The only reason Omi and the five other Black Scorpion children had been free was that they'd been taking a shower when chaos had broken loose. While the other children they'd found all deferred to Omi or the others marked by the Black Scorpion, it seemed that the Black Scorpion children themselves deferred to no one but whoever owned them.  
  
"This place is like a Goddamed maze!" Leon complained as Omi led them through the passages and halls back to where they'd come in. Dark and damp, Leon could think of many places he'd rather be than in this place. Then he thought that most of these children had probably lived here their whole lives and he was in an even bigger hurry to get them out.   
  
While they walked, Leon's eyes were drawn to yet another large metal door (the whole place seemed filled with large metal doors) but this one was a bit different. There was a sign on the door, in bold red letters: No Entrance.  
  
The little girl's hand tightened on Leon's shirt and, for the first time since Leon had met her, her face showed terrible fear. She wasn't looking at the door and, when Leon looked at the rest of the children, he saw that they were determinedly not looking at the door, too. Every one of the children kept their faces bowed to the floor with only the Black Scorpion children showing no fear of it.  
  
Leon stopped walking again, curious about what could get such a reaction from these cold children. "What's wrong?" Leon couldn't see anything but a metal door, much like all the other doors. "What do you see?"  
  
The little girl lowered her face even more than it had been and buried it in Leon's chest. "I'm Maru. Natsu Maru. There. I told you. Now, don't go in there." She was very close to begging. "Keep walking."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Leon held the little girl a bit tighter. It offended him, somehow, that she didn't feel safe with him. Leon tried to squash that primal notion, D would have laughed at him for feeling such a thing. It was arrogant to think that she should feel safe just because he was around. "What's in there?" It was definitely the door she was afraid of. "Hey, Jill..." When Leon turned he saw that Jill, too, was being held back. It looked as if Jill had been trying to get to the mysterious door, but the children were hanging on each of her arms, holding her back. Their eyes, like the eyes of the little girl in Leon's arms, were wide with fear. "What's back there?" Leon demanded. Not one of these children had shown any fear of anything, not even the bodies of the adults back in the arena, but this one little door scared the crap out of them.  
  
"Death." Omi answered. Even Omi's eyes looked a little wild, when he glanced at the door. Instead of cowering behind Jill, though, Omi walked right up to the door and put his hand flat on the door. "This is where life ends."  
  
"What the Hell's that supposed to mean?" Leon, in spite of himself, stepped backwards, away from the door. He didn't like thinking about death anymore than the next person.  
  
Omi slid his hand slowly off the door and stared at it for a long time in silence, but Leon wasn't so sure that he wanted to know what Omi was thinking. The boy's eyes looked just as cold as ever, but there was something different about his face. "We shouldn't be here." Omi said, finally. "We should leave." Despite his words, Omi just turned to look at Leon and Jill, as if waiting for their final say in the matter.  
  
Leon was in no mood to screw around. He went to Omi and handed the smaller girl to him. Omi was a tall kid, strong though he was narrow, and he easily took the Maru. "Go stand with Jill."  
  
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jill asked, guessing what Leon was going to do.  
  
"Nope. Stand back." Leon took hold of the door handle and gave it a gentle tug. When it didn't budge, Leon pulled harder until it creaked open slightly. When he could look in Leon saw nothing but darkness, at first.  
  
The stench was overpowering and Leon stepped back, gagging despite himself. The smell of ashes and death, Leon had a horrible suspicion of what this room was. Despite his misapprehension Leon took a few steps into the room. He could feel something soft under his feet. "What is this place?" No one answered him, but when Leon glanced back at the open door way, Jill looked just as unease as he felt.  
  
"I've got a bad feeling about this, Leon."  
  
"Me, too." Leon went a little further in and his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He half expected Omi to find the light switch for him, as Omi seemed to know where everything was in the Pit, but Omi wasn't enthusiastic about going into the room. He stood at the doorway with everyone else and just watched Leon. What Leon saw, when he could see in the darkness, was one of the most awful things he'd ever seen.  
  
In the center of the room was a huge iron furnace, but it wasn't really the furnace that horrified Leon. At one wall there was a table with something on it. Leon couldn't see it well, so he went closer. There was a terrible smell coming from it, the smell of death. He knew what was on the table before he got close enough to check. It was a boy, maybe seven years old, and dead. Leon looked at the furnace, the ashes covering the floor, and then back at the corpse of the boy.  
  
'They burn the kids.' Leon realized. 'No evidence if the kids are never found. How? This building looks abandoned, so anyone who sees smoke from it would be suspicious. I guess they might do the burning at night. But they couldn't stop the smell. Burnt flesh has a particular smell and that would draw to much attention so what...?' Leon's eyes fell on the wall above the boy's body. There were perhaps a dozen different types of knives hanging on hooks. 'No. Anything, but not that...' Leon looked closer at the boy's naked body and saw there was a large slice of meat carved out of his upper thigh. It was a very precise cut done with a blade. 'Oh, shit. They...they cut the kids up. Take the flesh off and then just burn the bones. Oh my God...' Leon retched and vomited unashamedly. What they did with the meat, Leon didn't want to know. For all he knew, they fed it back to the living children to save on the price of hamburger. Leon threw up again, hacking until his stomach was empty and he spent a few moments with his hands on his knees, panting for breath. 'This place is just...evil.'  
  
"Leon?" Jill called, concerned. "What's in there? What do you see?"  
  
Leon gathered himself. "I'll tell you later. Let's get out of this hell hole." Leon didn't think he could stand another minute here if he had to. "Omi, we got all the kids?" Leon asked briskly as he strode out of the room. He had to get out. The sight of that carved up child was going to haunt him for a long time.  
  
"Yes. There is no one left."  
  
"Good. Jill, you got what you need from the computer?"  
  
Jill patted her jacket pocket. "I've got it all copied and saved. If the police chose not to investigate, we can keep going on our own."  
  
"Let's get outta this place."  
  
At the dojo-  
  
Kazuma-  
  
Kazuma had been patient all night.  
  
It was a very long night.  
  
Kazuma hated this. He hated being patient when he what he wanted to do was to be out scouring the streets for his son. Kazuma was long passed being confused and was now caught between being worried and angry. There had been no answer when Kazuma tried to call Shigure's house, for the fourth time. There had been no answer at the Main House, calling either Hatori or even Akito's house. Kazuma had even tried calling Ayame's shop in the hopes that Ayame had heard something from Yuki. Nothing.  
  
Kazuma sat up all night, after Kyou had run from him, waiting for the telephone to ring. Kyou would call, Kazuma was sure. No matter what was bothering him, Kyou would calm down eventually and he'd call home. Then Kazuma could go and pick him up and bring him back to safety. That was the way it had always happened when Kyou got upset and ran away from whatever was troubling him.  
  
The phone never rang.  
  
The sun rose and the sky turned purple then blue with the coming of a new day and still, the phone didn't ring. Kazuma called all around without getting anywhere.  
  
When Kyou had run away from him, Kazuma had been too stunned to do anything, but stand there and gape and now he cursed himself for that stupidity. He was trained for emergency situations, so how could he just stand around dumbly when Kyou had obviously need him? Should have run after him. Should have at least yelled after him to stop. At least Kyou wasn't alone. Kazuma was glad that Yuki was with him, he had no doubt that Yuki had found Kyou after he'd left Kazuma. If anyone could find him, it would have been Yuki.  
  
All afternoon and all night Kazuma had let this maddening waiting continue and simply hoped for the phone to ring. It never did. Very late the night after Kyou had run away, actually, it was very early the next morning, Kazuma had a visitor.  
  
"Sensei?"   
  
Kazuma looked up at the unexpected voice and found one of his students standing in the dojo's doorway. "Yes, Shin?" Shin was a Souma, like so many of Kazuma's students, but had not the slightest clue about the whole Zodiac curse. In such a large family as the Souma's, it wouldn't have been hard for Kazuma to get all his students from within the family.  
  
"Are you going to have classes today?" Shin wasn't dressed in his gi, Kazuma noted, but in jeans and a red shirt. He didn't expect Kazuma to have classes.  
  
"No. I'm sorry, but..."  
  
"Don't apologize." Shin hurried to say. "Everyone was just worried about you, so I thought I'd ask. Kyou-kun hasn't come home, then?"  
  
Kazuma swallowed hard and it seemed to stick painfully in his throat. "No. Not yet." Kazuma didn't add that he thought Kyou might not come home. Ever. Kyou had seemed very angry. Kazuma was used to Kyou's bouts of temper, but never directed at him. Kyou had never so much as yelled at him, let alone say that he didn't want to see Kazuma. It had hurt, very deeply. The vision of Kyou covered in blood.   
  
"Do you want us to go look for him?" Shin asked. "All of us will help, sensei. We know you're worried and we'd heard that Kyou ran off." It was a very generous offer.  
  
"You know? How?"  
  
"Ken saw you yesterday when you and Kyou met on the street. He said Kyou was all bloody and he ran away. He tried to chase after Kyou for you, but," Shin shrugged helplessly. "You know how fast Kyou is. Ken lost him and then came and told me what he'd seen. May I ask, have you called the police, sensei?"  
  
"No. I had hoped that he'd be home by now. Kyou often needs time for his temper to cool down." Kazuma shook his head, his shaggy grey hair falling into his eyes. If Kyou were around, he'd be nagging at Kazuma to go get a haircut. "You go home. I'll find Kyou, but thank you." There was no need to involve the students in something like this. If Kyou wanted to stay hidden, there was no one who would be able to find him. Better to keep this within the Inner House.  
  
"If you say so, sensei. Sensei? You really don't look well. You should get some sleep before you go out looking for him. Try not to worry, Kyou-kun's smart, he won't do anything stupid." Shin answered.   
  
Kazuma wondered if he'd done the right thing by sending Shin away without asking for help in finding Kyou. In the Souma family, the most widely believed maxim was to keep family matters within the family. To a greater extent, keep Zodiac matters within the Zodiac. It was against all etiquette to involve members of the family who knew nothing of the curse and it nearly forbidden to involve the police. In fact, it was rumored that no police officer had ever been on the estate. Akito, and all the previous heads of the family, had always made sure that there was no reason for the police to visit. Usually that involved bribery.  
  
Kazuma kept doubting his choice of doing nothing, thinking that a real father would have never just sat around while his son was in trouble. Still, Kazuma knew how much Kyou treasured his freedom and thought that if he gave Kyou time to cool down, he'd at least call home again. If Kyou didn't want to talk to Kazuma, he would have called Shigure or Kagura.  
  
Shin was right, though. Kyou was smart, and strong, he'd be able to get himself out of almost any situation that he'd gotten himself into.  
  
But...still...  
  
'He's my son.' Kazuma told himself as he sat, not in the middle of his dojo where he usually sat when he wanted to think, but in Kyou's bedroom. 'How can I just do nothing?' Very few people had ever seen Kyou's bedroom, the boy was such a private person. It was painted white, very simple, with few decorations. However, there were a few things that showed off Kyou's personality. Books. Everywhere there were books and Kazuma knew he had Shigure to thank for influencing Kyou when he was young. Kyou had a great appetite for books and collected them. There were no pictures or posters on the walls, Kyou had always thought they were silly, but there were airplanes hanging from the ceiling by fishing line. It had been one of Kyou's hobbies as a child, model airplane building. In the corner of the room was a small basket of Kyou's latest, half-finished knitting project, a green and blue afghan he'd planned to give Kagura on her upcoming birthday. Everywhere Kazuma looked, he was reminded of Kyou, as if Kyou had never stopped living with him.  
  
"I don't want you around, just leave me alone!" Kyou had shouted, just a short while ago.  
  
Kazuma didn't really believe Kyou, Kyou said many such things in the heat of the moment. Obviously, whatever had been happening, had a terrible effect on Kyou. Covered in blood. He'd killed people. 'There was blood everywhere.' That single thought kept running though Kazuma's mind. Not Kyou's blood, thankfully, but Kyou had been so horrified by it. The image of Kyou like that, nearly soaked in blood with eyes wide from terror, kept replaying itself in Kazuma's mind.  
  
While he waited, pacing quietly around his house and dojo, Kazuma came to a decision. He had called everyone he could think of and was getting no help. He couldn't seem to even contact any of the other Junikyu and the servant who answered Akito's phone just kept saying that Akito wasn't feeling well enough to come to the phone.   
  
There was only one choice left to Kazuma and he made it without any more hesitation. He'd given Kyou a full night to calm down. Now it was time to find the boy and bring him home. Kazuma went to the front hall and slipped on his shoes before leaving the house with his precious cell phone in his hand. If Kyou tried to call now, Kazuma didn't want to be without it.  
  
Exhausted and worried more than he would ever have thought possible, Kazuma tried to keep calm. Yuki should have called, he was a very responsible boy and if he hadn't called to let Kazuma know what was going on then it meant that either nothing was wrong and Yuki saw no reason to call or...or that something was horribly wrong and Yuki COULDN'T call.  
  
There was no answer when Kazuma called Shigure's house, again, and that alone made Kazuma worry. Shigure worked from home and rarely ever left his secluded little house. Even if Shigure had left the house, it was Sunday and the children should still be there. If Kyou was still missing and Yuki was still looking for him, then Honda-san should be around to answer the telephone.  
  
Then, Kazuma broke one of the biggest rules of the Souma family. He took dialed his cell phone and waited for the answering voice,  
  
-Hello, police department. How can I help you?-  
  
"Hello?" Kazuma steeled himself and did what he knew Akito would be angry about. It was possible that doing something like this would be seen, in Akito's eyes, as a betrayal. He might never be forgiven when police officers turned up at the estate looking for information about Kyou. "I need to report a missing person. My son ran away yesterday afternoon."  
  
-I see, sir. What's the boy's name and what does he look like? I'll need a physical description to give our officers.-  
  
"Souma Kyou. He's sixteen years old and about five feet six inches tall. His hair's dark orange and his eyes are crimson. He's got freckles and he was wearing khaki trousers and a blue shirt the last time I saw him." Kazuma did not add that Kyou had been covered in blood, nor did he tell the police officer that Kyou admitted to killing people. "He was very upset when I saw him. Angry. Your people will have to be careful if he's still in that mood. Kyou's been taught to fight and he's very strong."  
  
-Thank you, sir.- The police officer said, sounding very professional. Kazuma could practically hear the man writing all the information down. -Do you have any idea why he would run away? Had something happened at home?-  
  
Kazuma hesitated for a brief moment. "Not that I know of. I'm not exactly sure he has run away. He's just missing. He's not living with me at the moment. He's living with some of his cousins, their house is closer to his school and he doesn't have to walk so far. I saw him yesterday, a little after noon, and asked him to come home and visit for the afternoon. He looked frightened, but wouldn't tell me why." Now that was and out and out lie.  
  
-Is there any possibility of abuse in the house he was staying at?-  
  
"No." Kazuma said without hesitation. "I've known the man who owns the house since the day he was born, he'd never hurt a child."  
  
-People can surprise you, sir. May I have the name and address of this man whom your son was living with? We'll have to make a visit and speak with him.-  
  
"Of course. Souma Shigure. He lives at one honkaku lane. It's technically on the Souma estate, but it's far from the Main estate. It's a very long dirt road that leads to the house; it's not even visible from the street. Your people might have trouble finding it."  
  
-We'll find it, sir. All right. I've got it all and we'll have officers looking for him. If you can think of anything else, please let us know.-   
  
Kazuma had the sinking feeling that the police would have no luck in finding Kyou. It wasn't that he thought the police were incompetent, but anything could have happened to Kyou considering the state he'd been in. A sick feeling twisted itself around Kazuma's heart as he considered a possibility. What would he do if the worst had happened? What if Kyou was...  
  
Kazuma gave the police offer his cell phone number in case they found anything and then, after the police officer had hung up on him, went back to his own searching. He would go to Shigure's house first and then to the Estate.  
  
'What if he's hurt? Kyou wasn't thinking clearly when I saw him. He could have gotten into an accident or...no. He wouldn't hurt himself.' Kazuma was sure of that. While suicide ran like wildfire through the family, Kyou loved life. It was for his life that Kyou fought Yuki every day, in the vain hope that Akito would allow him to be part of the family. It would never happen and everyone knew it but Kyou. Actually, Kazuma rather suspected that Kyou knew it, too. The fighting was just a way for Kyou to prove to himself that he hadn't given up his life. Still, Kyou hadn't been quite himself and he might have been hurt.   
  
Kazuma dialed his cell phone again then and began to call all the hospitals in the city. There was no unknown boys matching Kyou's description at any of the hospitals and Kazuma felt slightly relieved. It didn't mean that Kyou wasn't laying in a gutter somewhere, dying or dead, but it did give him reason to hope. Kazuma wondered if he should call the city morgue.  
  
It was a terrible feeling of lost control that Kazuma hadn't felt since he was a child. Kazuma prided himself on his control and his calm attitude toward life. It was his most remarkable feature, everyone told him. So Kazuma hated his shaking hands and his heart thundering in his chest. He wasn't just worried, he was terrified for Kyou and every passing moment was just making things worse.  
  
At Shigure's house-  
  
There was nothing at Shigure's house. The house was completely deserted, but that didn't mean that Kazuma had no clues. While the whole house seemed to have been abandoned, Kyou's bedroom was another story. It was completely destroyed. Kyou didn't have many belongings in the first place, but some great force had disrupted everything, overturning Kyou's bed and knocking over the book shelves. Most horrifying, was the dried, black blood that nearly covered the whole floor. It was every father's worst nightmare, but at least now Kazuma knew then how badly Kyou had been injured.  
  
If that was any comfort.  
  
Kazuma turned away from the blood and left the room. It wasn't the least bit comforting at all.  
  
'I've no time for this,' Kazuma thought, making his way back out of the house. 'Every wasted minute is a minute that Kyou is in danger.' After he'd assured himself that the house was empty, Kazuma stalked purposefully out of the house. Before he'd even left the front door, however, one of the other rooms caught his attention. 'Shigure's office. I remember Kyou said they'd all helped Shigure move his books down to this room.' However careless Shigure might seem, his office had never been anything but impeccably tidy. Shigure was fanatical about keeping his writing space neat. That made the sight of Shigure's office, with the small table overturned and hundreds of books Shigure had collected all through his life, was almost as shocking as the blood all over Kyou's bedroom.  
  
Shigure's office had been ransacked, that's what it looked like, anyway. All of Shigure's precious books had been dumped on the floor and there were papers, notes for his manuscripts and household bills, strewn everywhere. A closer look told Kazuma that the other rooms in the house showed signs of being searched though. It could have been a burglar, but why search Shigure's books?  
  
This mystery deepened and Kazuma didn't like it. Time to go to the estate.  
  
There was a mess waiting for Kazuma at the estate. He had no identification to show the guard at the gate, but was lucky that one of the other guards in passing recognized him. Kazuma didn't waste any time trying to figure out what was going on, he rushed to Akito's house.   
  
At the estate-  
  
"I'm sorry, sensei." One of the maids told Kazuma when he arrived at Akito's house and asked to see anyone of the Inner House. "I'm afraid everyone's gone."  
  
"Gone?" There had never been a single moment in the recorded Souma history when everyone of the Inner Circle had been missing from the estate. "May I ask where?"  
  
The young maid just shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, sensei. It all happened very early yesterday afternoon." She bit her lip, almost fearfully, and leaned in close to Kazuma to whisper, "I think Akito-sama is dying. I don't know for sure, though. There was a call out to all the Inner Circle and everyone rushed over right away. Well, everyone but Yuki, Kyou, and Shigure. I thought that maybe Kyou wasn't called, seeing as how Akito feels about him...er..." She glanced guiltily at Kazuma, apparently having forgotten whom she was speaking to.  
  
"Please, continue." Kazuma urged, far more interested in what was going on than what people thought of Kyou.  
  
"Well, Hiro's my little brother, as you know, so I heard when he took the phone call. It was Ritsu who called, Ritsu of all people! I suppose it's understandable as it was Ritsu who...did you hear about what happened earlier? Someone tried to kill Akito and then kidnapped a little boy right outside the main gate. That's why the security's so stepped up. I heard that it was Ren, can you believe that?!" As she spoke, her tone changed from the polite maid giving information to the gossipy teenager that she was. "The arrogance! She actually tried to shot Akito-sama. Kureno-san went after her, naturally." That the mention of Kureno's name, the girl blushed furiously. It wasn't a surprise, many were infatuated with Kureno, though very few knew him well. "Kureno-san's so good to Akito-sama. Where was I? Oh, yes. Akito-sama didn't die then only because some hulking foreigner shielded Akito-sama with his own body. I heard he was beautiful with wavy gold hair, just like a grown-up Momiji-san. Sigh..."  
  
Kazuma tried to get the maid back on track; he really didn't have time for this nonsense. "Was Akito-sama hurt?" Normally, Kazuma didn't refer to Akito with the honorific 'sama', but if he didn't, this loyal little maid might not be as forthcoming with her information. She might think he was being disrespectful.  
  
"Well, that I'm not sure about." She frowned and her eyebrows pressed together as she thought. "I only know what I hear from other people, but the rumor is that Ritsu-san had to nearly carry Akito-sama to his house. Akito-sama didn't want anyone else to help him. Like I said, it was Ritsu-san who called all the other Inner House and did they ever come running. No one was let into the house after that and Hatori-sensei chased all of us out." 'Us' no doubt indicated the few maids and servants Akito kept around the house. "The next thing we knew, some strange man, I think he was a man, drove up in this gorgeous car, it was some kind of antique. I saw, with my own eyes, I saw this guy carrying Akito-sama out of Akito-sama's own house and put him in the car. Now, what do you think of that? It's not the last of it, though. Hatori-sensei and Kureno-san both went with Akito-sama and no one's heard from them since."  
  
Kazuma looked up at the lightly cloudy sky. "Surely, Shigure didn't let them just leave without getting a phone number or something? The stranger was from a hospital or something, maybe."  
  
"I don't think so. There was a lot of yelling coming from Akito's house right after. I snuck closer," She glanced around as if afraid of being overheard. "Everyone was fighting. I heard my own brother and Rin-san yelling at Shigure and Ayame was shouting, trying to calm Rin-san down. Ristu-san and Kagura-san both ran off together and no one knows where they were going. Right after they left, Hatsuharu-san tore away at top speed, then he came barreling back with some big book. A little while later, it was dark, almost ten last night, and all the rest of the Inner House took off. Together they just walked away as calm as anything. Of course, they didn't tell anyone where they were going. Hiro called our dad and told him he was going to stay at Kisa's house for the night, but that was a lie, wasn't it? Kisa was with Hiro when they all walked off the estate. Where do you think they've all gone?"  
  
One thing was certain. This maid shared Hiro's gift for talk.  
  
"I don't know. I'm trying to find Kyou and I thought I might find him here, but I guess not." He hid his disappointment with a smile. There was no reason to worry this girl. Kazuma had always been good as concealing his emotions. "You seem to have head a lot of what's going on around here, lately. Have you heard anyone mention Kyou?"  
  
"I'm sorry, but no. I spend most of my days in Akito's house and you know he doesn't even like to hear Kyou's name mentioned. I'll have word sent around that he's run off. I'm sure someone will know where he is."   
  
Her light, careless tone made it sound like such an unimportant thing that Kyou was missing and Kazuma felt a bitter, though fleeting, hatred for the girl. Kazuma did not hate easily, but Kyou was the center of his life. How could Kazuma not hate anyone who did not treasure Kyou as he did?   
  
"Oh!" The maid smiled brightly all of a sudden and snapped her fingers, painted bright orange. "I just remembered. Shigure-san's still here, does that help?   
  
"Yes, immensely." Kazuma gave a quiet sigh of relief. Shigure was very clever and if anyone knew where the rest of the family had gone, it would be Shigure. "Where is he?"  
  
"Umm...I don't know. Someone saw him talking with Ayame in the garden outside the Rooster's house, though. Ayame-san left and Shigure-san went back into the Rooster's house. It's funny, isn't it?" She got the first thoughtful look she'd had since Kazuma had begun speaking to her. "I don't think Kureno's ever even stepped foot in there."  
  
Not ten minutes later, Kazuma had reached the Rooster's house and he knew what the maid had meant when she'd said that Kureno had never lived there. It was well known in the Inner Circle that Kureno's childhood had been less than ideal and he hadn't actually lived on the estate until he was a young man at about twelve years old. When Kureno had come to the estate, it had been amidst a great hurricane of gossip one New Years. Akito vanishing and causing a terrible stir amongst everyone, especially the cursed. Kazuma remembered everyone rushing around, racing about the estate and out of it, searching for Akito. Kureno reappeared with Akito in tow a few hours later with Ren's wrath like flames around them. After that, Kureno had rarely left Akito's side for even a moment.   
  
Rumors, as they always did in the Souma family, whirled around like wildfire. They said that Kureno was in love with Akito or that Akito had begun to lose his mind, even at that early age, and couldn't bear to be away from Kureno. They said that Kureno would let Akito beat him or that Kureno would beat Akito. No one really knew the truth, except that Kureno followed Akito everywhere.  
  
The house of the Rooster was as decrepit as any house on the Souma estate ever became. The truth was that Akito loved beauty and he couldn't stand to have anything around him that was ugly. It was a very simple explanation for what Kazuma suspected went on in Akito's mind. It was this love of beauty that made Akito fear and hate Kyou and his inner repulsive self. Akito wouldn't allow one of the houses on his estate to become so dilapidated as to have the roof falling in or an overgrown garden. Oh, the paint was fading a bit and the grass was in need of a trim, but other than that, it was in good condition. Outside the front door of the house sat Shigure on a stone bench. He was looking up at the morning sky with a blank expression on his face. It seemed odd that Shigure wasn't smiling.  
  
"I was wondering when you'd come." Shigure said when Kazuma sat down next to him.  
  
Kazuma had known Shigure for many, many years and still remembered the days when Shigure wet his diapers. It was hard to think that Shigure would deliberately deceive him, but Kazuma knew that was what Shigure was trying to do the moment Shigure had spoken. Something was just not right with the man. Kazuma focused on his breathing, keeping it steady and even, and stayed calm. There was not yet any reason to panic. "Where is he?"  
  
"I guess you mean Kyou, right? Well, it's a bit hard to explain. No. It's not hard, I guess I'm lying. I just don't want to explain. It's been a long day. And a long night. I'm afraid things are going to get a lot more complicated for the Souma family in a short while."  
  
"Where's Kyou?" Kazuma honestly couldn't care about the complications for the Souma family while Kyou was missing.  
  
"He's...away. Safe, I believe, but not here."  
  
"Where?" Kazuma was rapidly loosing his calm, visions of blood flashing before his eyes.  
  
Shigure hadn't looked at Kazuma once since he'd arrived. "There's a little known legend in the family about how the curse was started. You can read about it, there." Shigure gestured absently to a book that had been dropped in the grass absently.. "Hundreds of years of suffering for nothing." He smiled slightly, a not quite real smile. "You should be proud. It's going to be Kyou who saves us all. I'm not sure how, but he'll do it. He's the cat. Ha! I shouldn't say that. Everyone used to say that I would know best because I was the dog. That doesn't mean anything; it never made any sense to me, either. I don't know what the Hell I'm doing. For all I know, I could have killed everyone with what I've done."  
  
Kazuma went cold. "What have you done?"  
  
"Ayame forgave me. I'm glad of that, anyway. I gave them all up. I know who cursed our family and I gave everyone to him. Kyou was first. He was attacked, I think. Yuki said there was a lot of blood and they couldn't find Tohru-chan. Kyou wandered off and Yuki went to look for him. They're with Count D now. He's the one who's family cursed us. He told me that Kyou's going to change and that change will save our family. All that blood you saw in Kyou's room, which I'm sure you saw, is all apart of the process, I'm told." He glanced at Kazuma for the first time since Kazuma had sat next to him. "Oh, now don't look at me like that. I'm not telling you where he is. You'd only want to take him away or interfere. I don't think you'd interfere deliberately, but all the same, we can't have it."  
  
"Shigure, he's my child. I love him as if he were my real son; you know that. Tell me where Kyou is. What's happening to him?"  
  
"I'm afraid I don't know what's happening to him. It's all very mysterious. You never should have trusted me. I gave him away, just like I gave away the rest of the family. I hope I did the right thing. I believe I did."  
  
Kazuma took a deep breath. "I'm sure you did, Shigure. I have faith in you, you'd never act against the family. Please, where is Kyou? I must know if he's all right. I just have to see him for a moment."  
  
"No."  
  
"What?" Kazuma had been trained to keep his emotions under control and for years he had been a master of that art. There was very little that could upset Kazuma enough to even raise his voice. At that moment, however, looking at Shigure's tragic face, he saw red and his fists shook with rage.  
  
"I'm not going to tell you where they went." Shigure's expression didn't change. "This is all for the good of the family. If you interrupt things now, I don't know how everything will be affected. It's safer if you stay here, anyway. For all your fighting skill, I don't think even you'd stand a chance against this guy. Kyou would want you to be safe and, as a fellow Junikyu, I must say that his wishes come before yours. I can't really tell you anything else, I don't know much. If you read the book, you'll understand as much as I do."  
  
Kazuma couldn't believe this was happening. He'd trusted Shigure to take care of Kyou. It had been working out very well for so long. "You must tell me what happened. I went to your house and there was blood everywhere. Kyou told me that he'd killed people. Do you understand? He KILLED people! Kyou's violent, but never to such a monstrous extreme. I find it so hard to believe that he'd do anything like that."  
  
Shigure looked surprised. "Killed? That doesn't sound like Kyou at all, does it? Still, it doesn't change anything. I won't tell you where he is. I can tell you that he's safe...urk!" Shigure stopped talking when Kazuma lashed out and grabbed him by the throat, reminding Shigure why, exactly, Kazuma was 'the master'. Kazuma's hands wrapped around Shigure's throat and they both tumbled off the seat they were on to the ground with Kazuma ending up straddling Shigure's waist, both of his hands still wrapped around Shigure's throat. "Please! Kazuma..." Shigure gasped with what little breath Kazuma allowed him to have.  
  
"Where...is...my...son?!" Kazuma snarled. No more games. Kazuma just wanted Kyou back safely.  
  
Shigure stopped struggling then and let his whole body go limp. He closed his eyes and just waited.  
  
"Shigure!" Kazuma snapped, enraged. "Tell me! My son's in danger, tell me where he is!"  
  
Still, Shigure didn't answer  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
Kazuma's attention was drawn away from Shigure to the doorway of the Rooster's house. There stood more than a dozen children all watching Kazuma and Shigure with curiosity and not a hint of fear as they watched Shigure being strangled. Kazuma dropped Shigure's throat, shocked "Who are they?"  
  
Shigure didn't have a good answer and just shrugged awkwardly as he massaged his sore, reddening throat and pushed himself up to lean on his elbow. "They were just...here. I think Kureno brought them home. Now he's gone with Akito and the others and the police know about them. The police have been bribed, they won't interfere. They know about Kyou's true self. I don't know what to do with them." It wasn't uncommon to bribe the police to stay out of a Souma matter. Having police snooping around the estate would be a bad thing.  
  
"Shigure, children can't just appear out of nowhere. They must have family's somewhere." Kazuma stood up from the ground and helped Shigure up, he would act civilized in front of children, if nothing else.  
  
"Nope. They just sit there and wait. They're waiting for Kureno, they tell me. He should be back whenever Kyou comes back." Shigure stood up dusted himself off before he spoke to the children. "Don't worry, nothing's wrong. This is my friend, Kazuma-sensei. Kazuma," Shigure looked back at Kazuma. "I believe these children are all from wherever it is that Kazuma came from. He brought them here after he'd gone to deal with Ren. Did anyone tell you that Ren tried to murder Akito last night? She'd dead, now. I wonder what happened to that little boy she snatched? I suppose I should have asked. Anyway, I really don't know what else to do with the children. I don't want the police snooping around but," Whatever Shigure was about to say was cut off when he looked up and gave a brilliant smile. "Ah, welcome back, Orcot-san."  
  
It wasn't just a single man who walked down the path to the Rooster's house, but a whole group of children of all ages. Kazuma was reminded of the poem, the Pied Piper of Hamlin, when the children walked towards them. The only difference was that there was a woman leading these children, a woman with curly brown hair and wire-rimmed glasses, and that these children were not the gay, laughing children the Pied Piper had led away from Hamlin town. These children were grave and unsmiling. Behind them, carrying a little girl wrapped tightly in a blanket, was a very tall man with bright yellow hair. Kazuma remembered what Akito's house maid had told him about the man who'd saved Akito's life. He nodded back at Shigure and Kazuma figured that this must be Orcot-san.  
  
Orcot-san was very tall, about three inches taller than Kazuma, and had a slightly green cast to his face. He didn't seem in the mood for pleasantries. "Yeah, whatever. The cops come yet?" He had a very common, abrupt way of speaking and when he did speak it was with a pronounced American accent. Despite the accent, his Japanese was impeccable.  
  
"Not yet, I'm afraid. It seems that they are reluctant to involve themselves in these children." That was a blatant lie as Kazuma knew Shigure had just admitted to bribing the police. The entire cursed family, every one of the Junikyu, was severely xenophobic. They'd been taught to dislike and distrust outside forces, especially authority figures like police, doctors, and teachers since the day of their birth. Shigure was no exception to this rule and he would do nearly anything to keep police off the estate. It was amazing what money could do, especially since Ren's attack had happened outside the walls of the estate and there must have been dozens of witnesses on the street who'd called the police.  
  
The stranger, Orcot-san, cursed vilely under his breath. "We'll see about that. Here, I brought you some more kids." He gestured to the other children. "If the cops are being stupid, I don't know where else to take them." He looked embarrassed. "Sorry about this, must be hell on you to have all these kids underfoot."  
  
"Not at all." Shigure argued, brightly. It was amazing, really. Though Kazuma was usually proud of how well he controlled his emotions, there was no one who was master of his emotions like Shigure. He could easily switch from melancholy too jovial in the blink of an eye and it was entirely believable. As so many people in the Zodiac family knew: Shigure was a very good liar. "We'll make room, this is a big house."  
  
It took a while to find space for all the many children, but in the end, everyone had at least a small space they could sit or rest in. There was one who worried Kazuma, a little boy who'd been shot. Shigure assured him that one of the family doctor's, not Hatori, had already taken care of the boy and that he'd be fine with a little rest.   
  
Kazuma's parenting nature began to nag at him. The children would need food and some better clothes. The night would be cold which meant they'd need not only night clothes, but blankets. It wouldn't be hard to get the family to donate things. They'd need food first, though. Kazuma liked to see healthy children and all these children looked just a little bit to skinny. He would have to send out to the store to buy quite a bit of food. No matter, the family had plenty of money. He would rather have the boy who'd been shot taken to the hospital and there was a little girl Orcot-san had brought in with a badly healed ankle, she should be in the hospital, too.   
  
While Orcot-san and Shigure spoke together and the young woman, Jill-san, yelled at police on the telephone. Given the two conversations he had to listen to, Kazuma decided to listen to Orcot-san and Shigure.  
  
"I wish I could help more, but I really don't know much about this Pit they've come from." Shigure said in a voice that usually meant he had a plan of some kind.  
  
"So you do know something?" Orcot-san asked. He didn't know that Shigure was using him for some reason.   
  
"Very little. I think if I could find Kureno then I'd know more. I've...heard rumors that Kureno came from the Pit." He hurried to add, "I don't know for certain, you understand. It's only rumors. However, Kureno did bring the children back here after he'd gone to find a woman who tried to kill the head of our family and..."  
  
"Head of your family? You mean that scrawny, pale kid? What'd he say his name was? Akito? Something like that?"  
  
"Yes, Akito." Shigure hesitated, no doubt surprised to hear someone describe Akito as scrawny for the first time. "Well, he found all the children there, so he would be able to tell you more than I could. I really don't mind keeping the children here, they seem very well behaved."  
  
Orcot-san shook his head. "I don't really think we can do that. You see, I think they're dangerous."  
  
"Dangerous? Children?"  
  
"You have no idea what they were doing to those kids." Orcot-san turned a bit green again. "I don't even want to think about all that. I want to talk to this Kureno you mentioned. Omi mentioned the name, too. He said they were going to follow Kureno's orders, so Kureno needs to be aware of that. Do you know where he is? Come to think of it, do you know where Ayame is? I wanted to see if he was all right after that whole mess earlier."  
  
Shigure was silent just a moment longer than necessary, a sure sign that he was working over all the possibilities of the situation. "Actually, I do know where he is. He and some other relatives of mine with off with your friend, Count D. At least, I think that's who it was, Ayame mentioned the man's name."  
  
Orcot-san frowned, puzzled. "Why would they go with D?"  
  
"I really don't know. They mentioned something about a petshop. Do you suppose you could take me there? I'm a bit worried about them. One of them, Akito-sama, wasn't feeling at all well. I think he might also know where one of our children, a boy named Kyou, is. He ran away from home and we really must bring him back."  
  
Orcot-san shrugged. "Sure, why not?"  
  
"Shigure," Kazuma said, "May I have a word in private before you leave?" They went to another room to talk. "I apologize for attacking you." Kazuma said to begin the conversation. He hadn't let his temper get that out of control for years.  
  
"That's not what you want to talk about, is it?" Shigure brushed the apology off without even acknowledging it. "You want to go to find Kyou?"  
  
"Do I really need to answer that?"  
  
"No. I can't let you, though."  
  
"I don't need to ask your permission." Maybe it was time to remind Shigure who he was talking to. "I rarely ask permission to do anything, not even from Akito himself. I have ordered my life perfectly well up until now and my life includes Kyou. Kyou is mine. When no one else cared for him, I took him as my own. I will not allow anything to hurt him." Kazuma was one of the very few Souma's in the world who did not revere or fear Akito and the cursed Junikyu did not order him around.  
  
"And I wouldn't let him be hurt." Shigure tried to sound reassuring. "He's being healed."  
  
"Then there's no danger of me going to see him."  
  
"Except that I'm going myself. I thought I'd be able to stay away, but I don't seem to be strong enough to do that." He put a hand to his chest, just over his heart. "I can feel something pulling at me. I have to go find the others."  
  
"Then we'll go together."  
  
"What about the children?" Shigure asked with a raised eyebrow. "You heard Orcot-san say that they're dangerous. They came from that Pit Kureno told us about once. That's where he became a killer, Akito told me. He tells me everything and he told me what he saw the day he bought Kureno. They teach little children to kill. All those little children in the other room are killers and they have no understanding of right or wrong. Should we leave them here to kill anyone who happens to walk into the house? There is another problem. Some of them saw Kyou change into his original self."  
  
Kazuma felt a sinking feeling of dread at those words. If they knew about the curse, then more problems would arise later. They'd have their memories taken. Kyou would be punished for letting himself be seen. If the children were left alone, one of them might inadvertently say something to someone who pops into the Rooster's house and by then the whole secret would be exposed to the world. They couldn't be left unguarded until Hatori could steal their memories.  
  
"I see." Shigure was right. Kazuma would have to stay for the good of the family and, more importantly, for Kyou's good.  
  
Shigure touched Kazuma's arm lightly. "Don't look so down. I've taken pretty good care of the children up till now. I don't want anyone hurt." He turned then and went back to Orcot-san.  
  
'Forgive me, Kyou. I'd come if I could. I'll trust Shigure one more time.' Kazuma couldn't help but feel that he was letting Kyou down, somehow.  
  
For Kazuma, the next two weeks passed painfully slowly. He kept all the children close to the Rooster's house. It was impossible to keep most of the family from finding out about the children, but he was able to keep contact to a minimum. He told everyone who asked that the children were from a now closed orphanage and Akito was taking pity on them, giving them a home until a new orphanage could be found. The family always liked hearing about their kind, generous leader.  
  
Two weeks crawled by agonizingly.  
  
At the Petshop-  
  
Yuki-  
  
Everyone had appeared together, shortly after Kagura and Ritsu had arrived at the petshop. Tohru had told Yuki that she saw Akito, Hatori, and Kureno sleeping in another room of the petshop, but that Michael had told her not to leave Kyou's room again. Food and anything they might need would be brought to them. Yuki was glad, he didn't like the thought of Tohru wandering around this place all alone.  
  
Michael was still a mystery that Yuki was trying to solve. He was sure he'd met Michael somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where. Not that it mattered at the moment.  
  
For days they waited, most of the Souma family sleeping on the soft grass near Kyou's cocoon, but nothing happened. It was hard to tell day from night in this place, the sun never set or even moved from its high point in the sky. Still, they slept as well as they could and tried to be patient. It was hard on everyone. All the time alone had been good for thinking, though. Yuki was coming very close to sorting out his feelings on certain important subjects.  
  
Finally, the two weeks Count D had predicted was done and Yuki was woken from a deep sleep by a rustle and the sound of something ripping.  
  
Kyou's cocoon was moving.   
  
"Honda-san." Yuki moved slightly away from the cocoon and to where Tohru was sleeping on the other side of Kyou. There really wasn't any better place to sleep, but the grass was cool and soft and actually made an adequate bed. "Honda-san?" Out of habit, Yuki was hesitant about touching her. After a moment of reminding himself that he didn't have to be so careful with Tohru and that he should start to think of her like Kagura or Rin, Yuki shook her shoulder. This sudden change in reality was nerve wracking. "Tohru, wake up."  
  
She woke almost as soon as Yuki touched her and blinked up at him, sleepily. "That's the first time you've used my given name." She smiled at that thought, finding great pleasure in such a simple thing. "What's going on?" Her attention was taken quickly from Yuki to Kyou's cocoon.  
  
Yuki could only shrug. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that he's hatching. Or whatever it is that cocoons do."  
  
"Kyou's trying to get out." Tohru said, watching the cocoon as it wiggled slightly and parts of it would start to press outward. "Should...should we help him?"  
  
It did look like Kyou was having trouble finding his way out, but Yuki shook his head. "He's managed well this far. I think we have to leave him alone. We'll trust him. Let's wake the others."  
  
To be continued... 


	27. To Dance

Dear readers, in case any of you are curious, yes, I have read Petshop of Horrors # 7. I know that in the English version the children were called Scorpio's Children. In the online translations I read (about a year ago) they were called Black Scorpion. To be honest, I think I like Scorpio's Children better, but, as I didn't know they were going to change that in the translation,  
  
Chapter 26: To Dance...  
  
At the petshop-  
Count D-  
  
D knew it was happening. The moment Kyou had begun to wake from his deep sleep, D knew that it would be soon. He lay on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. D wanted to be able to do more to help the boy, but it was best that he let this process go as naturally as possible. It was bad enough that he'd had to speed up everything to save Kyou's life. If the family had not been tampered with, Kyou would have stayed in that cocoon for eleven months.  
  
'It was risk. A risk that had to be taken.' D thought as he kept a close watch on not only Kyou, but the behavior of the rest of the Souma family while they were in his petshop, and the condition of Akito, who was vital to the survival of the family. It was hard to keep his attention focused on all of this at once, but it would soon be over. Just a few more hours and Kyou would emerge.  
  
The Souma Estate-  
Leon-  
  
The Black Scorpion organization would never allow the rescue of the children to go unpunished. Leon wondered if they would send one of their other Black Scorpion agents to kill the Souma's and retrieve the children. Would they just kill the kids, too? Whatever the outcome, it wasn't looking good. The kids knew too much about the organization and they could easily hurt the Black Scorpion. Leon was going to have to find a way to protect the Souma family, especially if the police weren't going to help.  
  
Leon thought about all this as he made his way through the Souma estate for the tenth time in two weeks. He'd made a point of visiting nearly everyday to make sure that not only the children were all right, but that they hadn't gotten violent and hurt the kind Souma family who were sheltering them.  
  
He had no solutions about this whole mess and Jill, currently at Ayame's apartment with Mine-chan, who was supposedly working, was working as fast as she could to sort though the information she'd found on the computer at the Pit. It was hard, Jill had told Leon. There was so much information and a lot of it was useless. In time, Jill was certain that she'd be able to find the Black Scorpion. Then they'd cut the head off.  
  
There were happier things to think about and Leon smiled as he walked though the Souma estate. The children were doing pretty good, he was able to walk right onto the estate without mucking with the guards because Kazuma had ordered them to leave Leon alone, and the sun was shining. Leon enjoyed a sunny day.  
  
"We'll keep them."  
  
"Huh?" Leon never was good at speaking when he was surprised and he couldn't have been more surprised at that moment if Jill had come prancing by in a pink tutu singing 'London Bridges'.  
  
"Don't sound so surprised." Kazuma, the placid, grey haired man Leon had met when he'd brought the children from the Pit to the Souma estate, was as serene as he had been every day since Leon had met him. In fact, Leon had ever met anyone so calm and relaxed in his entire life. Even now, Kazuma smiled slightly at Leon's shock. "The children need homes and my family is large enough that we can provide. I have already had three people inquiring about the children. I, myself, have a large house and will be able to take one or two of them if no one else will have them. Of course, any final decisions will be made when the head of the family returns."  
  
Souma Kazuma must have been a saint. That was what Leon thought, anyway. He had never met anyone who was so thoroughly patient or calm tempered. His gentle nature almost seemed inhuman. Leon found himself liking Kazuma and he wondered if anyone could actually be unhappy when they were around Kazuma. "Yeah, but more than fifty kids? That's a lot of homes to find, even in a family as big as this." Leon had never seen a set up like the Souma family before and, to be honest, he rather liked it. They all lived together and worked for the betterment of the family. If anyone needed something, the rest of the family provided it. If a child was orphaned, a relative almost instantly adopted them. Kazuma had adopted the orphaned Kyou and Leon had learned that two of Ayame's friends, Shigure and Hatori, had done the same thing. Shigure had taken in Ayame's little brother, Yuki, and Hatori had taken in a little boy named Momiji. It seemed like such an ideal situation and Leon couldn't help but compare it to how he'd grown up. Just thrown away.  
  
"Even if we do not have enough homes for them," Kazuma answered. "We will find room for them somewhere. The children will not be simply turned away. There are several vacant houses on the estate where they may be permitted to live, should Akito-sama be in a favorable mood. Many of them are old enough to look after themselves and, if necessary, they can be assigned as a sort of dormitory leader and take care of the younger ones."  
  
A ball suddenly hit Leon in the head and he turned to look at the yard of children. One of the kids he'd rescued from the Pit was looking at Leon with an almost frightened expression. "Sorry." He stood very stiffly, as if he wasn't sure if Leon would beat him or not.  
  
"No sweat, kid." Leon kicked the ball back to him. It was only a beach ball, one of many toys that had been given to Kazuma for the children by the rest of the family. They were learning how to play and many of the kids couldn't do little things like catch a ball or jump rope. Not one of them could understand the idea of playing for fun, so Kazuma had taken that on as his first duty to them. Thus far, he was teaching them tag and hide-and-seek. It wasn't easy in the small space they had; Kazuma had decided that the children would be confined to the house Leon had found them all in (Kazuma called it the Rooster's house for some reason) until he decided that they weren't dangerous to the rest of the family. A sensible decision, Leon thought.  
  
In the passed thirteen days, since Leon had herded the children to the Souma estate and given them over to Kazuma's care, they had changed a bit. It wasn't a remarkable change, but at least they looked a little better. Thanks to the generous nature of the Souma family, the children all had new clothes, mostly given by families who's own children had outgrown the clothes. Hair was newly washed and trimmed and every one of the children was sparkling clean from the daily baths Kazuma insisted upon. The little girl, Maru, was wearing one polished black shoe and just a sock on the other foot as Kazuma had explained, wearing two shoes would only hurt her injured feet.  
  
"What's going to happen to her? To Maru?" Leon asked, nodding towards the girl. He remembered her innocent suggestion of sex and it made him feel vaguely sick. She was just a pretty little girl when she was all dressed up like this, but her face was still often blank. How could these kids ever lead a normal life? How could Maru go to school if she thought she was supposed to give sex to everyone who asked for it? The boys in high school would happily take advantage of her. Jill was worried that some of the girls might be pregnant and Kazuma had promised to have the family doctor, Hatori, examine the girls thoroughly. If any of them were with child, of course they would be given good care and help in learning how to take care of a child. If the girl was too young, then the necessary decision would be made about whether to keep the baby or not for the child's safety. It was possible, though sickening. Leon had heard of little girls as young as ten getting pregnant.  
  
Kazuma turned so that he was standing next to Leon and together, they looked out over the garden full of children. "There will be an operation to heal Maru-chan's foot. I expect that it will need to be re-broken and set by a good doctor, but it should be fine. In the worst case, she may be lame for the rest of her life. With luck, though, she will be able to walk properly again." Kazuma absently put his hand on the head of a child who walked by them, smiling down at the child, fondly. The child seemed surprised by the touch and looked up at Kazuma, surprised by the contact. Kazuma smiled back and continued on with his conversation with Leon.  
  
"I'm glad." Leon said, still thinking of Maru. "How much will it cost? I'll give something..." Leon was very conscious of how little money he had, but it didn't seem fair to have this one family take on the responsibility for all the kids. It wasn't their fault that the kids had been hurt, after all. Not to mention the danger they were in because of children. Leon hated to think what would happen to this good family if the Black Scorpion decided to eliminate them all.  
  
"We have several doctors in our family, Orcot-san. You need not worry about the cost, we can easily cover it. Maru-chan's foot has been examined already and she has an appointment to have it fixed in about four days. Every effort will be made to find the family's of these children, I assure you. Our family has resources and if their families want to be found, we will find them." He looked sad and shifted his eyes back to the garden where the children were starting to fade into naps. "Every one of the children who will speak to me tells me that their family's, their own mothers and fathers, are the ones who brought them to the Pit. They say they were sold for a few hundred yen a piece. I don't think they will want the children back."  
  
"They've got enough to eat? No one's going hungry, are they?" Leon wanted to protest that Kazuma was wrong about the children's families. He didn't because Kazuma wasn't.  
  
"Plenty. Our family has been most generous. I think most of the children will have new homes in a very short time. Our doctor is away for a short while and, as soon as he's had a chance to make sure that all the children are healthy enough, we'll start interviewing people who want the children. You've met Hatori-sensei, haven't you?"  
  
"Yeah, briefly." Leon hadn't been overly impressed by Hatori, he didn't like how Ayame fawned over the man, yet Hatori made no effort to give Ayame a message, either way. It seemed unfair, but when he'd mentioned this, in passing, to Kazuma, Kazuma had corrected him quickly.  
  
"Hatori isn't leading Ayame on, as you think. It may be hard to believe, but Hatori's naturally that way. He's remarkably shy and," Kazuma had paused awkwardly at that point. "Hatori lost someone very dear to him, not more than a year ago. Losing her nearly destroyed him. Ayame's cared for Hatori for as long as I can remember and he accepts Hatori's reluctance to give his heart out again. I'll ask you, please don't interfere with them. It will work out, one way or the other. If you try to get between them, even if you think it's for Ayame's own good, Ayame will surely hate you."  
  
Leon had taken the advice, but wished he could talk to Ayame after everything that had gone on. Like a lot of people in the Souma family, it seemed that Ayame had just vanished. He hadn't come back to his apartment. Leon also hadn't seen Hatori or Shigure since the day he'd brought all the children back to the estate and Kazuma's adopted son, a boy named Kyou, was missing, also. Leon felt a head ache coming on. Now that one mystery had been solved, there was another to take care of.  
  
Thinking of finding the children homes, Leon wasn't sure it would be as easy as Kazuma made it out to be and he said as much.  
  
"Tell me, has there been any news of my family? My son?" Every day Leon had come to visit the children, Kazuma had asked Leon the same question every day and Leon was starting to hate this part of their conversation. He hated seeing such a gentle man as Kazuma in pain. Obviously the man was a devoted father.  
  
"I'm sorry. I haven't heard a thing. I took Shigure-san to the petshop, just like he asked. D was polite and asked him into the back room to show him something. When I got out of the bathroom, D said Shigure-san had left. Said he never saw your kid. I guess Shigure-san had his facts wrong, huh? There's no one from your family at D's petshop." That didn't change the fact that Shigure had apparently not gone back to the estate to tell Kazuma what he did or did not see. It seemed more than cruel to Leon. Shigure was up to something and Leon was starting to dislike the man more than ever. "Are you sure you trust Shigure-san? That character seems like a piece of work. He left the petshop, so where is he?"  
  
"Shigure is a good man, but he often does things for his own reasons. I'll trust him. He's very intelligent and truly wants what's best for the family. The problem is that he doesn't often tell anyone why he's doing this or that. But, yes. I do trust him." Kazuma didn't sound entirely convinced and Leon didn't blame him.  
  
Leon would never believe that D would deliberately hurt a child. Still, in almost two weeks, there had been no sign of any kids, other than Chris, in the petshop. "You want me to help look for him?" Leon offered. "I'm not working right now, so I could help you look." If the boy hadn't come home in two weeks, there was undoubtedly a serious problem. The one place Kazuma had admitted to not calling was the local morgue.  
  
Leon could understand that. It was the one place no parent ever wanted to call, because they might find what they were looking for. This man was giving up so much of his time and energy to take care of these kids that had been rescued from the Pit that Leon would be generous, too. He would call the morgue for Kazuma and find a way to gently break the news if there was an orange haired boy who's corpse been found. He'd ask D to help him find the right words and then offer to go with Kazuma down to the morgue to identify the body.  
  
Kazuma, though, shook his head. "Thank you." He said, sincerely. "But I have already called the police and they are searching for him. He knows that it's always safe to come home. If he wants to, he'll come back." Even to Leon's insensitive ears, Kazuma sounded heartbroken.  
"Well...if you change your mind, you know where to find me." Leon tried to stifle his rude thoughts, but couldn't quite manage it. He blurted out, "You won't get any results from the police!" He was still very angry with the way the police ignored the children from the Pit. "You're better off letting me help you search. The kids will be all right for a few hours if you and I have a look around."  
  
"Again, thank you, but no. My Kyou's strong and very smart. He'll come home. I know he will. I have faith. If you'll excuse me, now. I should get the children ready. We need to pack, the bus will be here soon."  
  
"Bus? What bus?"  
  
"The family has a private charter bus. I've reserved it for the day to take the children, and myself, away. You've explained the whole situation, about this Black Scorpion organization, and I think it would be safer, for the children and for my family, if I were to take the children away for a while. Somewhere safe and quiet, away from the city would be best. Our family has a summerhouse by the sea and it's a little, out of the way place, but plenty big enough for the children." Kazuma slipped a hand into the folds of his kimono and pulled out a small, white business card. "Here, this is the house number and my cell phone number. I know you have great interest in the children, if you need to contact me, please do so. Also," His eyes softened. "If you hear anything at all about my son, please call me. If...well...tell him I miss him. No matter what happened to make him run away, I want him home. I..." For the first time since Leon had met Kazuma, the man looked close to tears. "Just ask him to call me, if nothing else."  
  
To preserve Kazuma's dignity, Leon walked away, pocketing the business card. 'He's got faith, huh?' Leon thought. 'Faith and a buck fifty will buy you a coffee. Nothing else, though. Hope he's right about his kid. Be a shame to find out the kid's nothing but a junkie and he's out shooting up with pals.' With a father like Kazuma, though, Leon really didn't believe that was the case. No, it was a better idea to call the morgue.  
  
But first, back to the petshop.  
  
Leon felt a lump develop in his throat and butterflies begin to circle in his stomach. There was something he wanted to say to D. He'd wanted to say for a little while now and Leon wasn't sure how D was going to take it.  
  
At the Petshop-  
  
D didn't greet Leon at the door as he usually did and Leon wasn't really surprised. In the passed few days, D hadn't been feeling to well and Leon had found him, nearly every day, resting in his dark bedroom. After hanging up his coat in the front room, Leon made his way back into the deeper part of the petshop. He still didn't understand how D had moved the whole petshop to Japan in just a few hours, but Leon didn't ask for any explanations. After his long association with D, Leon knew he wouldn't get any answers. He just had to accept it.  
  
The two guard dogs that were normally attentive just behind the doors that led to the main part of the petshop became alert the moment Leon stepped though the doors. They were large dogs, Dobermans or something, Leon thought. Neither dog took much notice of Leon, though. They knew him well enough by now and Leon passed by them easily.  
  
'What if they didn't know me? I wonder if they'd attack anyone else who tried to walk in?' Leon smiled and petted the head of the little raccoon, Pon-chan, that Chris was so fond of. 'I hope they're trained to attack anyone who just barges in. D and Chris are safer that way. I feel better if they're protected when I'm not around.'  
  
At that thought, Chris popped out of the kitchen with Tet-chan at his side. Chris was precariously balancing a tray in his hands. On the tray was a teapot with steam streaming out the nozzle, a teacup, and a small plate of cookies. Tet-chan was growling at him all the while.  
  
Chris smiled when he saw Leon. The Count isn't feeling well, Big Brother. Tet-chan and me are... Chris broke off and looked at the growling Tet-chan. Tet-chan and I are bringing him tea to make him feel better. He's in his bedroom again.  
  
Leon was glad to see Chris looking so happy. When Leon had told him that Suki, his friend at the Pit, had died, Chris had cried for hours. It seemed that he was slowly getting over it.  
  
The bedroom was, indeed, where they found D, stretched out on his bed with one arm draped over his eyes and apparently asleep. For a while, Leon just stood in the doorway and looked at D. He was inhuman. There was something that wasn't real about D, but Leon was starting to care less and less as time went by. Leon had to admit, if only to himself, that D was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen. Leon was no coward and he was confident enough in himself to speak his mind. This time, though, Leon wasn't quite so sure. It was a big something that he wanted to tell D.  
  
Maybe he should just keep his mouth shut.  
  
As if he were carrying a crystal butterfly, Chris carefully went to the side of the bed and set the tea tray down on the little table next to D's bed. Then he shook D's shoulder. Count? We brought tea. Tet-chan said it'll make you feel better.  
  
"Thank you, Chris." D didn't take his arm off his eyes when he answered and his voice was faint. "Please leave it and then why don't you find somewhere to play? I am certain that Phillip would like to see you again." It was a gentle dismissal, but a dismissal all the same. Chris didn't leave before he leaned over and gave D a slight hug, as if afraid that he would hurt D if he hugged him too hard. D raised his free hand up to return the hug by simply touching Chris' back. Tet-chan followed Chris, as usual, but he growled something at D before the door closed after the two of them.  
  
When they were alone, Leon walked around D's bed and sat on the opposite side. "You still sick?" Leon wasn't sure that D was actually sick, but in the past two weeks or so, he'd had terrible headaches and hadn't opened the petshop even once. It was strange behavior for D, so Leon thought that D must be sick. He didn't like seeing D so weak, but D had steadfastly refused to see a doctor.  
  
"Just a little under the weather. I do not often become ill, so when it does happen, it seems more terrible than it is." For the first time since Leon had walked into the room, D lowered his arm and Leon was shocked to see large, dark circles under D's eyes. He tried not to let it show, but Leon had never seen D looking anything less than perfect. Those puffy bags under D's eyes seemed unnatural. D turned his head away from Leon and when he spoke, there was horrible self-hate in his voice. "You do not have to look at me, Leon. I know how ugly I am like this."  
  
"No! No!" Leon insisted. He'd thought he'd done such a good job at hiding what he was thinking. He should know better by now; he couldn't hide anything from D. "You aren't ugly, you're sick. I wish you'd let me take you to the hospital. I don't like this, D." He absently reached out and put his hand against D's forehead and then put the back of his hand on D's cheek. "You don't have a fever. In fact, you feel pretty cool." Leon wasn't sure that humans should feel so cool to the touch, but at least it wasn't a fever.  
  
"I will be fine." D reached up and put his elegant hand on Leon's. "You worry for me far more than I deserve. I expect that soon everything will be as it should be. I will be back to myself, perhaps even better than I ever was before."  
  
Count D-  
  
D held his hand on Leon's far longer than he'd intended to, but Leon hadn't objected, as D had thought he would.  
  
"Hey, D?"  
  
"Yes, Leon?" D removed his hand the moment Leon had spoken and slowly sat up.  
  
"Would you mind staying here a while? In Japan, I mean." Leon's tone was nervous, but it was so rare that Leon asked D for something in such a serious tone that D felt compelled to answer carefully.  
  
"May I ask why?"  
  
Leon shrugged. "I told you why I came here. The whole Black Scorpion thing."  
  
"Ah, yes. Young Murakai. I hear that he is still stable. Still not expected to wake up, though." D sipped at his tea, glad for the extra sugar. Keeping his mind on more than one thing was tiring and he needed the added energy. If he wasn't going to use sugar, then he would have to taste some blood and Leon looked very tempting. It wasn't often that D tasted blood, but he did crave it. Another one of his failings, perhaps. "So, how are the children you rescued? Are they well?"  
  
"I guess, considering what they've been through." Leon was so troubled by the fates of these children and D wanted to draw him away from that. It wasn't that D didn't want Leon to help the children, but Leon seemed far too involved with them. Thankfully, Leon shook his head and smiled at D. "They're doing better now. I guess its amazing what a real home and some good food can do for kids, huh? The ones with that damned tattoo aren't doing as well, but they aren't violent, like I thought they'd be. That Kazuma guy's real good with kids, I'll give him that."  
  
D really needed the tea and he needed about eight spoonfuls of sugar in his tea. Such a headache he had! D was having to keep an eye on Leon, Kyou's room where all the Junikyu were waiting for Kyou's rebirth, the room where Akito slept while they waited for Kyou, and the Souma estate where there were so many human children in desperate need of care. It was giving him a headache, trying to keep track of everyone. Not to mention there was one detail that D had nearly forgotten in his haste to correct the wrong done to the Souma family.  
  
Papa.  
  
Where was papa? D was certain that his papa would have shown up at least once to try and take the Souma's, but there hadn't been a peep from him since D had seen him at the Souma's little house where he'd so painfully taken the human blood from the poor cat, Kyou. Ah, well. D tried not to worry about it. He knew Sofu had taken care of papa, even if he didn't want to say exactly what he'd done to punish papa for his interference with the Souma family. D would trust Sofu.  
  
'That reminds me,' D thought to himself. 'I must speak with the rest of the Souma family about their choice.' It was not likely to be a hard choice for them to make, not if their lives were as unpleasant as D believed. Actually, D really didn't see too much in the way of problems with their lives. All they had to do was make certain that they trusted their mates before they chose lovers or simply decide to take same-sex lovers. It was very simple. Perhaps their human blood was confusing them. It certainly didn't make humans any more logical.  
  
Of course, that thought made D think of Leon.  
  
Since Leon had woken up in D's bed, a few days ago, their relationship had been alternately smoother and more awkward. At least Leon wasn't yelling so much, anymore. If anything, Leon seemed distracted and he didn't want to talk about his thoughts about waking up in D's bed.  
  
"I've gotta stay till this is all taken care of. I can't just leave. I'll have to call the station and quit. They won't let me just take a leave of absence for who knows how long. My Japanese is pretty good, maybe I can get a job in town and I'll work on the Black Scorpion from the information we've got. Jill wants to stay, too. Did I tell you about Mine-chan?" Leon chuckled, his eyes sparkling for the first time in a long time. "Jill's set on staying with her. I wanna make Jill happy. She's a good woman, she deserves to be happy."  
  
"And you?" D bit his tongue as soon as he'd said it. He wished he'd just kept quiet.  
  
"What about me?" Leon asked, sounding honestly puzzled.  
  
D debated whether or not he should keep quiet, but decided since he'd already spoken there was no use in keeping silent. "Do you plan on finding your deserved happiness?" D expected Leon to make some kind of flip remark, a comment on finding a big busted blonde to marry. Instead, Leon looked thoughtful and didn't speak for a while. It wasn't often that Leon got into these reflective moments and D didn't want to disturb it.  
  
"Most people," Leon said slowly when he finally did speak. "Want the basics. I'm no different, I guess. Kids. I've got Chris. A home. I spend as much time here as anywhere, so I guess this is home." Leon didn't quite meet D's eyes at that comment. "And someone to...to talk to. I've got you. You're smart and fun to talk to, even if I don't understand half of what you're saying. I never get bored when you're around, that's for damned sure. I'll find another job; maybe I'll be a cop again. Work's no problem." Leon looked at D for the first time since he'd started talking and D was a bit surprised by what he saw in Leon's eyes. Fear. Leon was thinking about things that were frightening him. "But I only want to stay if you're around. If you go back to America, then I'm going back, too." Leon gave no reason for this decision, but then, he really didn't need to.  
  
If D had been less sure of what was going on in Leon's mind, he would have blushed at Leon's not so subtle hint. This had been bound to happen sooner or later and now D was going to have to deal with it. He had been getting far too comfortable with the casual relationship they'd developed.  
  
Humans loved change far too much, as far as D was concerned.  
  
'Why does he want to change things now?' D thought, a little irritated, though he certainly didn't let that show on his face. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Leon. 'More than a year and we've been happy like this and now he's getting over his homophobia! This will complicate things. I don't need complications, not now.' Yet, D looked into Leon's eyes and saw such sincerity that he couldn't do what he knew Sofu would expect him to do. D smiled. "I was planning to stay for a while, in point of fact. Chris has made a couple of friends, I believe. I think I would like to open a business here. My family has not done business in Japan since Sofu had the petshop here." It was foolish, raising both his own and Leon's hopes. This would never work out. Still, Leon looked so happy for just a moment.  
  
"You were?" Leon asked, incredulously. "Really? Well." Leon seemed shocked, but not unpleasantly so. A smile threatened to escape his lips. "Hey, that's great. It's gonna take me a while to get things sorted out here. All those kids...Christ, I don't know what's going to happen to them." Leon's eyes darkened. "Ya know, the cops never did come to the estate to check out the kids? Two damned weeks and they never even called to check up on them." Leon scowled down at his teacup. "I don't know if I even want to be a cop here, they seem completely out of it. Those morons wouldn't go to the crime scene and now they won't even help out a bunch helpless kids."  
  
"I am certain we can come to some arrangement. They are children, so I am sure some family will be happy to adopt them." D rubbed his temples and winced, his head still bothering him.  
  
Leon looked more depressed that he had in a long time. "Remember who you're talking to, D. I was in the system for a long time. People don't want kids, they want babies. Those kids are to old to be adopted, they'll never find a home. One of those kids has gotta be closing in on seventeen. If the cops ever get theirs head outta their as...er...if they get moving some of those kids will spend time in juvie hall but a couple would do jail time for what they did. They all admitted it, they aren't even ashamed. They'll tell you if you ask them, 'oh sure, I've killed. Three times. Four times.' It's sick. Those kids don't even know they've done anything wrong. I had a little girl, she couldn't have been much more than ten or so, and she offered to..." Leon couldn't finish, embarrassed to finish what he was going to say. "Well, let's say she knew things no little girl should know. That kid should have been playing with her Barbie dolls." Leon frowned at D. "Are you feeling all right? You don't look so good." He leaned a bit closer and looked closely at D's face. "You want some aspirin or something?"  
  
It was the strain of keeping his mind focused on too many things all at once. D's head was starting to throb and he could feel his heart beating faster than normal. That wasn't a good sign, especially about his heart. 'Just a few more days.' D told himself. 'Just a few more days and I'll be whole again.' All he had to do was wait until Kyou's metamorphosis was complete and then he could have the bracelet that would complete him. 'He's already close.' D told himself, forcing himself to look away from Leon to pour more tea. 'I don't want to hurt him, but he'll be more hurt if I keep him close and he finds out the truth later. What do I do? Sofu would tell me to leave him. Just to forget Leon. How could I? Leon is so much apart of my life.'  
  
"I am fine, Leon." D assured him, taking a sip of his tea. It was a lie, but D didn't really mind lying. The sugar was a lovely replacement for what D would have liked to have. Kami were not carnivores by nature, but D loved the taste of blood. He expected that it was apart of his deficiency. The missing parts of his body that his papa had used to made the beads of the bracelet that imprisoned the Souma family for so long.  
  
'Soon, I'll have it back. I will be strong and whole.' But D worried. 'Will I still be the same person I am now? What if I become like papa, hateful and spiteful? What if I become like Sofu, cold and distant to anyone who might love him?' D looked again at Leon and couldn't imagine hating Leon. Oh, there were times when D was angry with his human and times when he thought he would tear his hair out because of something Leon did or said, but he never actually hated Leon. Leon was such a sincere creature that it was impossible to hate him. 'But when I take back the bracelet from Kyou and the blood and bones that are mine are absorbed into my body, will I truly stay the same? Sofu tells me that I am not what a Kami should be.'  
  
"Your heart is far to open to the emotions of the creatures you are destined to guard. Your heart will be injured if you continue to see them in such a generous light. They are not deserving of choices or consideration. They are animals, every one of them. You are their master." That was what Sofu had told D, not so long ago. D couldn't even remember the situation. Sofu had sighed, troubled. "If only you were not missing parts of yourself, you would be so much stronger."  
  
'If I change, if I no longer care for Leon after I am made whole, then is it not doubly cruel to raise his hopes now?' There was doubt about that, however. Papa wasn't missing any of his natural body parts and yet he was certainly not what a Kami should be. Who knew? Maybe, against all odds, Sofu was wrong and D would stay just the way he was.  
  
D set his teacup back on the silver tray Chris had left on the bedside table and lay his head back down on his soft pillow. Kyou would emerge soon, in a just a few hours. D could already sense that Kyou was close to breaking though, desperately seeking the warm sunlight that was the source of his power and, therefore, the source of his family's power.  
  
So much to worry about.  
  
There was always something to do, lately. So much to think about and Leon, while D wasn't exactly displeased about Leon's subtle, sudden courage, it was one more thing to think about.  
  
'That doesn't have to be taken care of now, though. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll... what? Talk to him? My Leon would probably get embarrassed and run off again. Well, there's no need to rush.' D decided that he would take his time with Leon and not rush things. First thing was first. D would see that his debt to the Souma family put to an end, first. Very soon, his responsibilities to the Souma family would be at an end.  
  
Kyou was nearing the surface of the cocoon. He would emerge soon, ready to face the sun and his family. D wondered what Kyou would do. If he would chose to save his family or not.  
  
"I'll have to leave you now, Leon." D swung his legs off the bed and stood, though his head felt light for a moment and Leon actually dove across the bed to steady D, as if he thought D might fall. D smiled over his shoulder at Leon and noted Leon's blush. "Thank you." Yes. It would be best to take things slowly. Time for flirting later, when his head didn't hurt.  
  
"Where are you going? Are you sure you should be up?" D turned to answer Leon, but found that his voice caught in his throat. He blinked, to clear his head. Leon was laying, on his stomach, on D's bed, his perpetually disheveled hair and eyes that said he was blissfully ignorant of how tempting he looked at that moment.  
  
D swallowed hard. "I am not leaving the petshop, Leon. I am just going down the hallway. I promise, I am perfectly safe." It was kind of Leon to worry, but this was one event Leon should NOT be present at.  
  
D didn't go directly to Kyou's room where most of the Souma's were waiting. Instead he went to the room he'd put Akito in along with his dragon and his rooster. The moment Kyou woke, it would be best to have them all in one place. Even the dog was already at the petshop, waiting for Kyou's entrance into his new life. Shigure, the protective dog, had arrived some days ago and had taken up residence just outside the room where Akito was sleeping with the dragon and the rooster. He wouldn't actually go in for fear of succumbing to the incense D burned to keep them all asleep. He ate readily, but was on constant alert save the few moments he'd drifted asleep.  
  
"Good afternoon." D said, affably when he came to the room and found Shigure sitting with his back to the door, as if afraid that someone would go in when he wasn't looking. D liked Shigure and found him quite complex.  
  
"Is it?" Shigure looked up at D with heavy, blood-shot eyes. "I seem to have lost track of time."  
  
"It is two weeks to the day that I brought Kyou to this place. Precisely two weeks."  
  
Shigure's eyes widened. "Ah." He thought for a moment. "Then...it's time?" He asked in disbelief. "Finally?"  
  
"Yes. It is finally time for your family to be renewed." When Shigure moved to stand, D took the larger man's arm and helped him to his feet. Shigure reeked. He hadn't bathed since he'd come to D's petshop, but the same could be said of the rest of his family. D did his best not to wrinkle his nose at being so close to Shigure, but it was difficult. "Your Kyou is in his final form at this moment, all that is left for him to do is to break out of his cocoon. I wonder if you will even recognize him."  
  
Shigure wet his dry lips and rubbed the back of his neck. "He's safe, then?"  
  
"Of course he is. This transformation has done him nothing but good."  
  
"Yuki told me what happened to him, that man who looked like you..."  
  
D hated it when he was mistaken for his papa. He loved his papa, there was no mistake there, but he liked to think that he had a stronger grip on reality along with a more sympathetic nature. "My papa did what had to be done. If he hadn't, I would have. Of course, I would have done it painlessly. It is very simple and my papa could have done it that way, also. He chose not to." Torture was always needless. D simply couldn't condone what his papa had done to Kyou. "Please, I assure you that Kyou is far better off as he is. I can tell by your expression that you want to ask something."  
  
"I do. What does this mean for the rest of my family? In the diary it said that they were able to control their transformations. Will Kyou have that talent?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Is it possible for the rest of us to have that?" There was desperation in his eyes; the need for a miracle. "To control the transformation?"  
  
"Possible, yes. However, whether or not your family will chose to go through the process is an individual decision." D knew he'd have to make this same offer to everyone in the Junikyu Souma's. D debated on whether or not he should wait on explanations until he only had to say it once, but decided that it was best to let Shigure be able to advise them. Tell Shigure now and let him think about what was going to happen. Then, when the time came, he would tell his family instead of letting D do it. Yes, that would work out best. They would be more willing to go along with the idea if Shigure wanted to do it.  
  
Shigure's face was still, he was skilled enough at the game of deception to let nothing show, not eagerness or weariness. It seemed clear that Shigure knew this was an important conversation. "Tell me more, please." He was very polite, for one so tired.  
  
"What curses your family is not your dual nature, but the way of it's activation. The embrace. That can be corrected." D made his voice sound as seductive as possible, knowing that he was helping Shigure to see things as he wanted him to. "It is such a simple course of action. No pain, no risk, and it would only take a few moments. The rest of your family will not even have to endure what Kyou had to, the cocoon stage. That stage is unique amongst the cat of your species. You could all go home, tonight, together, and completely changed. Your family would no longer need to worry about the risk of being discovered, at least by the embrace, by humanity. Such a small price to pay, also."  
  
"A price?" Shigure echoed, though his face still showed no signs of how he felt about this. He was listening intently and D had little doubt that his offer would be refused.  
  
"There is a price for everything. Surely, you know this. In your case, you may not see it as a disadvantage, but I assure you this will turn out to be a burden on your family, possibly as great as the one you already endure. The true Junikyu family does not age beyond maturity. You would not ever age again. Your children would age until they become adults and then they would stop aging. The only way that one of the Junikyu family may die is..."  
  
"By violence or disease. Yes," Shigure nodded. "I read all that in the diary. It sounds like an ideal life. No old age or death. No more funerals or grave yards. They all lived together in a house deep in the wilds of China before they escaped to Japan. Rarely they ventured out, to protect themselves and keep themselves secret. I know the risks." His eyes were far away, and D guessed that Shigure was thinking of a dream world where no one would ever hurt his family again. A world where they could live happily apart from humanity, as the ancient Junikyu had done. Such a beautiful dream it must have seemed.  
  
"You do not understand." D interrupted and brought Shigure back to real life. It was not a dream world that would save the Souma family, but the careful planning and secrecy they'd been practicing for centuries. "You can not live as your ancestors did. That is not possible in today's world. You must live with humanity, as all creatures must. Perhaps you may find solitude in the deep of Australia or close to the edge of the world in Alaska. There are so few places on Earth left untouched and uninhabited by humanity. This should not be such a difficult adjustment, your family has had to hide its differences for a very long time. This is just another difference to hide. You are still to be cursed, but by eternal youth. People will notice after five, ten, thirty, fifty years. They will wonder why you never change. The people in your extended family, the rest of the Souma family, how will you keep this a secret from them? There will be many problems to solve."  
  
Shigure didn't answer, but his gaze went inward again and D knew he was thinking though the difficulties and possibilities.  
  
D continued, "In the passed, the Junikyu lived alone. Just fourteen people, completely alone, isolated in their home in the wilderness. They were happy with their lives. Can you say that your family would be happy with the same? Will your entire family be able to give up all outside contact? I am certain that you have friends, co-workers, and family who are not apart of the Junikyu. Are you willing to give them all up to rid yourself of your human blood?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"What about the rest of your family? I will tell you this, my duty to your family ends the moment Kyou is fully reborn, which will be in approximately fifteen minutes. Your ancestor, Inu, chose this path for your family. He was the one to introduce human blood into your family. It was a good choice, at the time, and necessary to the survival of your family. Whether you accept my offer or not is no concern of mine." D sounded just as cold as he felt. It honestly didn't matter to him what they decided to live as after he was done with Kyou. "I will keep this offer open, for as long as your family exists. For eternity, if need be. I must warn you that this is a one way street; once I have taken your human blood, it can not be replaced. You will be in your original form for the rest of your life. Also, if you chose to breed with a human, then your child will be as you are now, fated to change shape at an embrace, if they happen to be born one of the Junikyu. You must take time to think this all over. Now, I will wake the head of your family. I am sure he will wish to be present when Kyou breaks free of his cocoon." D swept passed Shigure and wondered what Shigure would end up doing. Either way, the family was cursed, in Shigure's eyes.  
  
"Count D?" Shigure spoke before Akito had opened the door to Akito's room. "You keep saying that Kyou can heal my family. How?"  
  
"With a kiss." Then Akito went into the room and closed the door firmly behind him. D glided over to Akito's side and looked down at him.  
  
Akito was dozing quietly in the room that was designed for maximum serenity. His face was relaxed and he looked very young and very helpless. He would have been a very attractive child if only he was healthier. Too thin and his skin so unhealthily pale, Akito simply didn't look healthy. Still, he was blessed with the Souma looks and, given a little fattening up, he would be lovely.  
  
'Kyou will be able to see to that, if he so chooses.'  
  
Hatori and Kureno, the dragon and the rooster, were of little concern. They were both relatively healthy, with the exception of Hatori's blinded eye. It was time to wake them all, though. D went to the burning brazier which held the incense D used to help them all sleep and doused it. The air would clear in a short time.  
  
Akito-  
  
"Tell me your dreams."  
  
The voice floated at Akito through a pleasant dream, though he didn't know what the dream was about. Perhaps the voice was apart of the dream. All Akito knew was that he was happy and it seemed like such a novel experience. Dream? Maybe it was all a dream. Maybe the dream was real. Akito couldn't tell. All he knew was that he felt pleasantly sleepy and he didn't want to get up.  
  
Soft fingers stroked Akito's face and he grudgingly opened his eyes. He saw the eyes first and was reminded of something, though he really wasn't sure what he was reminded of. Purple and gold, the colors of sunset. Or maybe the sunrise. Purple clouds over a golden sun. Sunrise...sunset...did it really matter?  
  
Akito woke for a second time, feeling better and more at peace than he had ever felt in his life, to find someone looking down at him. At first, he couldn't place the face. It wasn't an attractive face. Akito thought the person was downright ugly. After all, this person wasn't one of his Junikyu. At least the bird had been pretty.  
  
"Are you quite awake?" The person with the sunrise eyes asked and Akito remembered him suddenly.  
  
Akito tried very hard to roll away from that man and the gentle hands touching his face, but his body wasn't listening to him. That was when he remembered everything that had happened. He was dying and he couldn't move. At least he felt nothing and could expect to just wait until his body just shut down. His heart would probably stop beating first and then he could just fade away. Ren had told Akito about the many horrible ways to die, including how Akira, his predecessor, had died, screaming and foaming at the mouth. This seemed much more peaceful.  
  
"You are not dying. Not yet." The man looked as if he might laugh at what Akito was thinking. Akito was sure that the ugly man could tell what he was thinking.  
  
Not dying? That got Akito's attention and he focused on the ugly man with two mismatched eyes. It was just cruel for this man to say such a thing. Akito's mouth wouldn't move and he couldn't speak, anymore. It was cruel to try and raise Akito's hopes, but Akito wasn't going to pay any attention, anymore than he had at his own house when this ugly man had somehow convinced Shigure to betray him.  
  
That was what happened.  
  
'Shigure must have been fooled. He's clever, but even he can be tricked. There is no cure for the curse or for me. Shigure must have been trying to help and he let himself have hope. It wasn't really Shigure's fault.' Akito felt a sudden, overpowering guilt for what he'd said to Shigure, but brushed it aside quickly. 'He'll forgive my harsh words. I forgive his betrayal, after all, so he'll forgive me. If I'd been thinking clearer I wouldn't have said such things to him.'  
  
When Akito let his eyes fall back on the man who held him captive, he saw that the man was smiling. "Child, you are not dying, not unless you truly wish to. Very few animals wish to die, not when life is possible."  
  
Animal?! Akito wasn't sure whether or not he should be insulted. He had always wanted to be an animal, to be one of his Junikyu. How much simpler life would have been if someone else had been born to be the head of the family and if he were just one of the family. Then Akito could have danced at the banquet with everyone else. This ugly man also didn't speak as if he were insulting Akito. He was a thin man and Akito knew if he could just make his body work, he could wrap his hands around the man's throat and strangle him. Then he could escape back to the estate.  
  
Rolling his eyes, Akito took a good look at the room he was in. It was very empty. He saw Hatori and Kureno fast asleep several paces away. Now that just wasn't right.  
  
'What's he done to them?' Akito wondered. What was keeping them asleep? Pills? Hatori often gave Akito pills to make him sleep. Akito knew that Kureno would not sleep if Akito was in a dangerous situation and Hatori had proven, over the years, that he could keep himself awake for several days if necessary. 'Are they hurt? Are they dead? I can't see them breathing. There's a smell in the air. Where is everyone?' Akito remembered his hateful words to Shigure, just before this ugly man had taken him away from the estate. Perhaps Shigure hadn't followed behind, as Akito thought he would. Perhaps Shigure now hated Akito because of what Akito had said. 'I didn't mean it. Well, I did mean it when I said it, but I don't mean it now. Where's everyone else?'  
  
The ugly man followed Akito's gaze to Hatori and Kureno and then looked back at Akito with his ugly, mask-like face. "They are merely sleeping. They will wake when I wish them to. Speaking of wishes, what do you wish? What do you wish for, more than anything else."  
  
There was, of course, one thing Akito had always wanted to do. Every year he saw the rest of his family dancing, at the Zodiac Banquet and he'd never been able to join in. Besides the perpetual weariness, Akito just wasn't strong enough. While he was plenty strong enough to walk around, but it would have been impossible for Akito to keep up the pace of a dance. Even a very slow dance would be too much for Akito. Therefore, he had always sat on the side and watched everyone else.  
  
"I can make your dream come true." The ugly man whispered. Count D. Yes, that was the ugly man's name. Both of Count D's hands were on Akito, now, stroking his hair and petting his face. Akito didn't like it. He didn't like it at all and wished he had the voice to tell Count D to leave him alone. "How would you like to dance with your family at your New Year's Banquet?"  
  
Tears of fury sprang to Akito's eyes. He was sure he hadn't said anything of the kind and still Count D knew what he was thinking. It wasn't fair.  
  
"Do not be angry, child." Count D soothed. "You have had a tiring life. Is it now time for you to be able to enjoy life alongside your family. I asked you before and I will ask again: do you dare live for your family instead of merely dying for them? Dying takes no courage at all, it simply happens. To live with the people you love takes far greater courage. The choice is for you to make. Your blood is polluted and it is that pollution that curses your family. I am able to remove that pollution and turn you into what you were meant to be. One of your family, your cat, has already been through this process and he is nearly completed his final transformation. You, and your two guards," He looked briefly at Hatori and Kureno. "Will be with him when he emerges and you will be there to see the magnificent potential of your family."  
  
Akito didn't want to go anywhere near Kyou. He feared Kyou more than anyone else, because he knew what the cat of the Junikyu turned into. He had seen Toma's monster and been haunted by nightmares of it for the rest of his life. He hated the smell and the sight of the monster cat. However, the idea that Kyou was in the hands of Count D irritated Akito.  
  
'A monster he may be, but Kyou's MY monster!' Akito thought of what might have happened to Kyou and wondered if there was anything he could do to protect his cat.  
  
To dance was nothing more than a worthless dream. To live, now Akito could appreciate that. It was his duty to protect his family from any threat and he definitely saw Count D as a threat. His family was separated and at the mercy of this Count D. If only he could move...  
  
A deep, almost painful groan caught Akito's attention and drew him out of his daydreams. Hatori was waking up and he focused his eyes first on Count D.  
  
"Why do I keep falling asleep when I run into you, Count?" Hatori rose from the sofa he'd been laying on and stood, putting one hand to his forehead as he steadied himself. "You have a bad effect on me, Count."  
  
"Not at all." Count D also stood up, it was the first time Akito noticed that the Count had been kneeling beside him. "You were most tired and I think you did not rest enough when I encouraged you to sleep at the hospital. That reminds me," The Count looked again at Akito and his serene smile warmed slightly. "I must thank you for the consideration you showed to Mr. Orcot. Oh," He gave a look of feigned surprise. "I forgot, you are to weak to speak. Do you wonder who Mr. Orcot is? You gave him a first-class room at the hospital and the use of your personal doctor. He will be most grateful when you meet again."  
  
So, now Akito knew that blonde man was connected to Count D. From the look on Hatori's face, Hatori didn't trust Count D at all. "Well?" Hatori said, at last. He walked over to Akito and knelt down on one knee before he took Akito's wrist in his hand and carefully felt for the pulse. "You've brought us all this way and, from the taste of the air, you've drugged us. How long have we been asleep and what are your plans for us now?"  
  
Just like Hatori, always so direct. Akito hadn't forgotten that it was Hatori and Kureno who had, in a way, betrayed him by obeying Shigure instead of him. Still, they were family and Akito would forgive. Shigure had been tricked, somehow, and had, in turn, tricked Hatori and Kureno. They would all have to be punished.  
  
"You have slept for two weeks and the drug, as you call it, was merely a scent. Nothing more. My plans? I have none but to reunite you with your family. You will find, Kureno-san," Count D didn't even turn to where Kureno had woken up and was silently putting a hand inside his jacket. "That your weapons have been taken." That hateful smile again. "This is a petshop, after all, and we mustn't let any harm come to my innocent pets. They frighten so easily."  
  
The door opened slightly and a white fox poked its head into the room. It looked at D for a moment before D said, "I see. Thank you, Ten-chan." Then the fox backed away and the door closed again. "It is time. Shall we go?"  
  
Kureno picked up Akito and held him closely when they followed Count D out of the room. To Akito's surprise, Shigure was waiting outside the room. He was leaning with his back against the wall opposite of the door and when they came out Shigure looked at Akito with half-lidded eyes. He didn't say a word as he went to Kureno and held out his arms.  
  
Perhaps Kureno understood Shigure better than Akito did, but neither of them said a word. Kureno gave Akito over to Shigure and then stepped backwards a pace or so and walked behind everyone. It made Akito feel safer to know Kureno was at his back and that Shigure had forgiven his thoughtless words. He must have. He was here and he was holding Akito.  
  
'If I could speak, I would apologize.' The smell from the room was beginning to vanish as they followed Count D through the corridors of the petshop. 'Apologize?' Akito's thoughts began to turn darker. 'No. No, never apologize. Aren't I god? They owe me everything, their very heartbeats are mine!' Akito could hear Shigure's heart, thudding in a slowly, even rhythm. He couldn't move his head away from Shigure's chest, even if he wanted to. 'How dare Shigure go against me?! All these years I've been fooled into trusting him! He's turning them all against me. I'll never forgive him!'  
  
"Akito-chan," Shigure whispered, bending his head in a terribly awkward angle to whisper in Akito's ear. "They are all waiting. Everyone's here." Shigure's arms tightened around Akito. Akito had the strangest feeling that Shigure wanted to say something more, but that he didn't.  
  
Akito didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to feel Shigure's breath on him. If only he could talk or push Shigure away! As it was, Akito couldn't so much as give Shigure a dirty look.  
  
Shigure-  
  
'I love you.' Shigure looked down at Akito's deathly still face. He had no expression and even his eyes were dull and lifeless. 'If I dared, I could tell you now and no one would hear. How could I be so cruel to you?' To tell Akito something so...intimate would only confuse Akito. Perhaps it would frighten him.  
  
Shigure held his tongue and was comforted by the shallow rise and fall of Akito's chest. He was alive. That was all that mattered. Shigure held Akito tighter and squashed his doubts. Without Count D, Akito would be dead now.  
  
Tohru-  
  
Tohru felt out of place again. The ongiri in the fruit basket.  
  
They were her friends, of course, all the Souma's. It was so rare that she saw them all at once and it felt a little daunting. In fact, Tohru realized, she'd never seen them all together. Watching from an outsider's place, Tohru could clearly see relationship she hadn't realized were there, the family structure. They weren't disjoined at all, but seemed very interdependent.  
  
They'd all entered the forest room together, though there were some missing. Hatori and someone named Kureno were with Akito, though no one was quite sure where Akito was. They'd thought that by coming here they'd find Akito, but had been led, instead to this room. There was no hope for it. Once everyone was in the room and realized that Akito wasn't there, someone tried to leave. The door was locked again.  
  
Amongst the people that Tohru had met before, there was one girl Tohru had never seen before, a beautiful girl with long black hair, like waves of ink. Her eyes were dark and searching and when she saw Tohru, they darkened. Tohru could almost imagine that the girl was wondering what right Tohru had to be there.  
  
"That's Isuzu, we call her Rin." Yuki told Tohru when he saw her looking at Rin. Rin had come in carried by Hatsuharu and, from the looks they shot at each other when they thought no one was looking, Tohru could see that they were very important to each other. "She's my third cousin on my mother's side. I think." Then Yuki frowned as he and Torhu watched Hatsuharu gently set Rin down on a soft patch of grass. "I wonder why she's being carried. She's the independent type and doesn't like to depend on anyone. Please, excuse me, Honda-san." Yuki walked away, but he didn't go to Hatsuharu and Rin. Instead, Yuki eased his way to Momiji and whispered something to him. Momiji whispered back and Yuki nodded his thanks before coming back to Tohru.  
  
It had turned out that Rin had suffered a fall from a high window and her back was still badly hurt. Yuki told her that Hatori was going to be angry that Rin was even out of the hospital. For the walk to the Petshop, Hatsuharu had carried Rin the entire way.  
  
Now, all these days later, Tohru still watched them all in fascination. Though Hatsuharu stayed close to Rin, Momiji never strayed far from Hatsuharu. Ayame, the oldest one of them present, seemed to be trying to keep eveyone's moral up. He went around to everyone, rarely stopping to rest, just talking to everyone. Eventually he came to Tohru and Yuki. To Tohru, poor Ayame looked very sad, despite his usual smile.  
  
"Well, it's nice to see you both safe and sound. Dear brother, you seem to have been taking good care of the princess." His teasing words lacked his usual flair and even Yuki didn't snap back at him.  
  
Yuki, sitting on the grass near Kyou, just let his chin rest on his knees. "How did you find us, Ayame?" Ayame told them everything that had happened since Yuki had left Shigure and it finally felt as if they had all the holes in the story filled in. "So," Yuki said after Ayame had finished talking. "Shigure's still at the estate? He knew all that, all this time?"  
  
"He was trying to protect everyone." Ayame said, gently.  
  
"Of course."  
  
It was one of the more civilized conversations Tohru had ever heard between Yuki and Ayame.  
  
"Princess?" Ayame looked at Torhu with his strained smile in his attempt to keep everyone's mood up. "How are you feeling? Do they give you enough to eat?"  
  
"Oh, yes." Tohru answered, brightly. She could see what Ayame was trying to do and she appreciated it enough to play along. "Ten-chan brings food all the time. I suppose he'll need help. Maybe Michael will help him." Of course Ayame had no idea who Tohru was talking about, so he hastened to explain. "Ten-chan's a magic white fox who can turn into a red haired boy and Michael is a friend of Yuki's." She remembered what Michael had told her when he'd brought her back to Kyou's forest room not long ago. It brought a smile to her face.  
  
Yuki looked away. "He's no friend of mine. I've never met him before we came here."  
  
"Trust me," Tohru put her hand on Yuki's arm. "He's a friend. I just know it."  
  
Ayame's tongue flickered out of his mouth and he licked his lips. Tohru had never seen him do that before and it seemed like such an odd habit. Ayame's eyes widened. "Princess?" He leaned closer and licked his lips again. "Has anything changed for you, lately?" At that moment, a commotion broke out between Hiro and Rin with Ritsu trying frantically make them stop fighting. "Excuse me!" Ayame jumped nimbly to his feet and dashed away to help Ritsu.  
  
"Ayame noticed you were a bird, I think." Yuki commented quietly. "I wonder why he never noticed before? He smells with his tongue, just like a real snake. Did you know that?"  
  
For some reason, it frightened Tohru to know that Ayame knew she was different. What would everyone think of her when they found out she wasn't human? What if they disliked her? 'No.' Tohru told herself. 'They're good people, they wouldn't do something like that. I'm really no different than I was before.'  
  
Yuki was thinking along another line. "Why should he notice something today? He's seen you often enough before, but he never thought anything of it. I wonder if it's because we're in this place. There aren't any real humans around, so you wouldn't smell like them as much as you did before." He thought for a moment. "Yes. That makes sense, I suppose."  
  
"Do you think they'll all find out?" Tohru looked around at all the Soumas as they mingled around, trying to get used to the idea that they were locked in.  
  
"Yes." Yuki answered without hesitation. Then he smiled sweetly. "You've kept out secret for more than a year, Honda-san. We will keep yours. You have nothing to worry about. Now," Yuki looked around, all business, at his noisy family. "We still have to protect Kyou. Count D said Kyou couldn't be disturbed, so we'll have to try to keep everyone quiet and away from Kyou."  
  
And so, two weeks passed before Tohru was woken by Yuki shaking her shoulder. "Honda-san." Yuki moved slightly away from the cocoon and to where Tohru was sleeping on the other side of Kyou. There really wasn't any better place to sleep, but the grass was cool and soft and actually made an adequate bed. "Honda-san?" Out of habit, Yuki was hesitant about touching her. After a moment of reminding himself that he didn't have to be so careful with Tohru and that he should start to think of her like Kagura or Rin, Yuki shook her shoulder. This sudden change in reality was nerve wracking. "Tohru, wake up."  
  
"That's the first time you've used my given name." She smiled at that thought, finding great pleasure in such a simple thing. "What's going on?" Her attention was taken quickly from Yuki to Kyou's cocoon. The other Souma's were starting to wake up and everyone crept closer to the cocoon.  
  
Yuki could only shrug. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that he's hatching. Or whatever it is that cocoons do." The surface of the cocoon began to bulge outwards, as if someone were pushing on it from the inside.  
  
"Kyou's trying to get out." Tohru said, watching the cocoon as it wiggled slightly and parts of it would start to press outward. "Should...should we help him?"  
  
It looked like Kyou was having trouble finding his way out, but Yuki shook his head. "He's managed well this far. I think we have to leave him alone. We'll trust him."  
  
All this time, Kagura had kept silent vigil over Kyou, unwilling to let him out of her sight. Her bright nature seemed in a terrible shadow and it was no mystery why. She must have felt awful to know that something so drastic was happening to Kyou and there was nothing she could do about it.  
The door of the forest room opened and in came the rest of the missing family. Count D leading the way with Shigure, carrying Akito, coming next and Hatori and Kureno last of all. The door closed behind them, by some unseen hand. While the Souma's continued up the hill to where everyone was watching Kyou's cocoon, Count D slowed his pace until he stopped a fair distance away.  
  
No one spoke.  
  
Kyou's cocoon moved a little more.  
  
Kyou-  
  
Kyou could feel them, all around him. He was warm and safe and he could hear their hearts beating. No. That was his own heart, echoing in his ears.  
  
'Home? Am I home? It's time to wake up, isn't it?" Kyou felt warm. Wonderfully warm, like he'd been sleeping in a ray of sunlight. "Where am I?' Kyou stretched his body. He was bound. Something held his whole body stiff, like he was wrapped tightly in bandages. Kyou tried to open his mouth to speak, but even his mouth couldn't open. His eyes were sealed closed. Kyou stretched again, as much as he could, trying to break whatever held him bound. He didn't like this. He was too confined. 'I can't see a thing. What's going on? I want out!"  
  
Kyou managed to shift himself just enough so both of his hands were at his chest and he pressed upwards. For the first time, he felt a surge of warm strength and the wrapping around him moved, stretching upwards. 'Yes!' Kyou thought. 'Free. I will be free. Are you out there?' Kyou didn't really know whom he was talking to, only that he was talking to THEM. The important people. He was glad they were around. They were waiting for him.  
  
Kyou pressed against his prison again, this time his claws scratched against whatever it was that held Kyou and he could feel strands of it tear.  
  
'Claws? I'm human now, aren't I? No, when I fell asleep I was the monster. That doesn't feel right. I'm not the monster now. I'm different.' Kyou used his claws to scratch again and felt more of the whatever it was beak above him. He'd be free soon. 'Soon. Very soon. Must get to the warmth. Must get to where the important people are.'  
  
Scratch.  
  
Claw.  
  
Tear.  
  
Closer and closer, Kyou fought his way out of...of his cocoon. Yes, that's what it was. It came from Kyou's own body. It was the way it should have been. He felt stronger than ever before. Kyou become almost hysterical in his effort to get out of this shell that confined him and kept him away from where he needed to be.  
  
Rip.  
  
Sunlight. Kyou could see sunlight streaming though the last layers of threads that kept him from freedom. He heard familiar voices and he heard people calling his name. One last dig with his claws and Kyou was free, sucking in deep lung fulls of fresh, clean air for the first time in what felt like days. He gasped for breath, sitting up in the torn cocoon, his hands grasping the sides of the ruined cocoon. Painful, beautiful air! It hurt at first to fill his lungs, but the air tasted so sweet.  
  
"K-Kyou?"  
  
Kyou wasn't sure who was speaking, but when he looked up he found everyone looking at him like he was a stranger. "Yes?" They were all here. Everyone in his family, everyone who was important except... "Master? Where's master?" Their last meeting came back to Kyou and he felt terrible about what he'd said.  
  
"He's at the estate." Shigure said in a hushed voice. "Kyou? How do you feel?"  
  
Such a simple question, but no simple answer. Wonderful. Strong. Everything at peace. Why didn't master come to see him? So much energy, like insects crawling on his skin. The sun was so bright...so beautiful.  
  
Kyou stood up and stepped out of the cocoon. Why was Yuki suddenly so short? Hadn't he and Kyou always been the same height? Kagura was staring at him with her mouth open and her hands bunched into little fists. Everyone looked short. But the sun was so warm that Kyou couldn't keep his attention on them for long. He looked up at the sun and was entranced.  
  
Shigure-  
  
Shigure had never imagined that Kyou would change to dramatically. He was no longer the monster that all of the cats had been doomed to be, but his form, his true form, was magnificent. Kyou was much taller than he had been, several inches taller than Hatori, even. His hair, now laced with threads of bright red and gold, was longer, hanging to his shoulders. His face was stronger, with the look of a man rather than the softer lines of a boy. His body looked ready to burst with muscles that Kyou hadn't had just two weeks ago. It was as if he had aged several years in just a few days.  
  
"Kyou?" It was Momiji who'd spoken. Momiji stepped away from Hatori, for the first time since they'd been reunited, and cautiously approached Kyou. Momiji was far from being timid, but even he was daunted by the new Kyou before them.  
  
Kyou looked down, away from the sun. His eyes were even different, with vertical pupils, like a real cat, instead of the round ones humans had. "Yes?" Even Kyou's voice was deeper. Kyou looked down at his hands, massively powerful looking hands, that weren't quite human. His hands, as well as most of his body, was covered in thick hair. Orange and red, just like the hair on his head. His fingernails had vanished, to be replaced by inch long claws that looked lethally sharp.  
  
Momiji took another step closer until he was looking up at Kyou with a stunned expression that most of the family wore along with him. "Wow." Momiji gasped. "Just...wow. You look so..."  
  
Kyou smiled when Momiji couldn't seem to find the words to express himself and showed off two rows of needle sharp teeth. "Yeah," Kyou answered. "Wow." He looked back up at the sun that hung magically overhead and seemed entranced by it for a very long time. "I feel 'Wow'." Kyou stretched his arms out and kept his face tilted upwards, a satisfied smile making his face glow and it seemed as if he completely tuned the rest of them out.  
  
Shigure couldn't help but wonder what Kyou was seeing with his new eyes.  
  
One by one, everyone came closer to Kyou, half-afraid and half-hopeful. It seemed that Count D hadn't lied to them. There was hope to lift the curse. Shigure held back, but even he took a few steps closer. They pawed at Kyou, unashamed. Everyone touched him, running their hands down his bareback or over his arms. It was as if they couldn't quite believe that this was Kyou until they actually touched him.  
  
Yuki, Tohru, and Kagura were the first ones to go to Kyou. It wasn't all that surprising, they were the ones closest to him. Kagura looked as if she would cry. She even bit her lip when she put both her hands on Kyou's chest, but he didn't acknowledge her. Kyou didn't seem to notice anyone touching him.  
  
Shigure felt a change in Akito and looked down at his god. Still the lifeless, staring eyes, but... "He's stopped breathing." Shigure felt his whole body grow cold.  
  
Hatori was with him in an instant and grabbed Akito's wrist. His typically serious face became even more drawn. Hatori released Akito's write and put his fingers on Akito's narrow throat. When he finally let go, Hatori's face was ashen. "He's dead."  
  
Dreadful silence replaced the awe that everyone had felt at Kyou's unique rebirth. They all knew what the death of the head of the family meant. Hard times would be coming.  
  
All of a sudden, there was a rush and Shigure looked up just in time to see Kyou charging at him. With unbelievable speed, Kyou seized Akito and ripped him away from Shigure. When Shigure tried to grab Akito, Kyou gave him a single shove and Shigure was thrown backwards several yards, coming to a rolling stop. When he had recovered enough to look, Kyou had Akito...Akito's corpse on the ground and was kneeling, straddling him.  
  
No one dared to move or speak. Kyou was no longer serene or calm, his lips were curled back and Shigure could easily see rows of frighteningly sharp teeth that were only inches from Akito's face.  
  
"After the way he has treated you," Count D spoke for the first time since entering the forest room. "I am certain that you would want dearly to hurt this man. You are too late, if he is dead. This is your choice." When Count D spoke, everyone listened. Even Kyou looked up at the man who was walking very slowly towards them. "It is also your choice to save your family. You know what to do. It is an instinct with your species, or so I believe. No one here is capable of stopping you, should you decide to rip apart that body."  
  
Kyou turned back to Akito's body and Shigure wanted to scream, 'He's dead! He can't hurt you anymore, just leave him alone!' Count D was right, though. Not one of them was strong enough to stop Kyou. Perhaps Kureno could, if he was armed, but Shigure knew that Count D had taken Kureno's gun. 'Please,' Shigure was on his knees and his fingers dug into the hard earth. 'Please, leave him alone. Don't do what everyone thinks the monster should do.'  
  
Everyone watched with tense silence. Tohru was clutching onto Yuki's arm and looked terrified. Kagura's fists were clenched at her sides, so tightly that her fingernails bit into the palms of her hands and even from where he was, Shigure could see blood dripping from her hands. Kagura was deathly pale. What must she be thinking? Seeing her love ready to do such a monstrous thing, Kagura must have been sickened.  
  
To everyone's surprise, Kyou did not rip Akito apart. Instead, still straddling Akito's prone body, Kyou reared up and tilted his face up at the sun, again. It seemed to last a very long time. Kyou looked back down at Akito and put his clawed hands on the grass on either side of Akito's head. He leaned down and kissed Akito.  
  
It wasn't a passionate kiss, but it was enough to shock the Souma family. Jaws dropped like lead weights. Right full on the lips, Kyou kissed Akito for no apparent reason.  
  
Akito's eyes flashed open.  
  
'He's alive!' Shigure felt elation run like electricity over every nerve in his body and he slumped to the ground, tears running freely down his face. Shigure was so overcome that he couldn't even really think straight. 'Thank you. Thank you. However it happened, thank you!' Kyou would save Akito with a kiss. That was what Count D had said. A simple kiss.  
  
For a moment, Kyou pulled slightly away from Akito and everyone saw a strange, gold light running from Kyou's mouth and into Akito's mouth. Then Kyou ended the kiss then and jumped up, away from Akito. Hatori and Kureno rushed in close, Hatori focusing on Akito and Kureno keeping his eyes on Kyou.  
  
"You shouldn't worry about me." Kyou said, grinning. "Everything's all right, now. I understand." He laughed and, as he laughed, Kyou changed. His entire body shifted, growing smaller and leaner until he was the Kyou they all knew with the exception of the lack of anger in his eyes. "Do you understand?" Kyou's body shifted again, this time into the small orange cat. Even Kyou's cat self grinned at them. "I'm...myself. Akito will be fine now, too." He shifted back to his teenage looking self. "I'll take care of Akito from now on."  
  
Akito blinked and was breathing in heaving gasps for a long time. His hands latched onto Hatori's sleeves and he sat up. It was as if he'd never seen any of them before. Like his eyes were opened for the first time in a very long time. Akito pushed himself up onto his elbow and then to sitting up with Hatori's worried help. When Akito stood he reached up and touched Hatori's face, gingerly, running his fingers across Hatori's dead eye and a sad moan escaped his lips. Then he looked at Rin and his face filled with remorse. He stepped away from Hatori and looked down at his own body, like it was a stranger to him. After his eyes had touched everyone else in the gathering, Akito looked at Kyou. "Thank you."  
  
It was later when everyone had adjusted to the fact that Kyou was now nothing even close to being human, that Count D presented their choice to them. Shigure had heard the explanation before and he waited uneasily to hear what his family would decide. To chose eternal youth and then spend the rest of their lives hiding from humanity or to stay with the curse that had brought them so much pain.  
  
"I will warn you that this is not a choice to be made lightly." Count D began. "Kyou did this to save his life and the lives of all his family. He had very little choice." Count D looked around, making sure that they were all listening, all but Kyou who was still very busy staring at the sun. "I am able to take the human blood from you, thus removing the curse, as you call it, put on you long ago. However, once the human blood is gone, you never will be as close to being human as you are now. You will stop aging once you've hit maturity and, after that, only disease or violence will be able to kill you. You will have no further place in human society and it will not be the transformation that endangers you, but your endless youth. People will notice, as the years pass and it will be more difficult to hide this curse."  
  
"What is Kyou, exactly?" Kagura asked. She hadn't once taken her eyes off Kyou. Her pain was so deep that one could almost feel it when one met her eyes. No doubt she thought that anything she might have had with Kyou was now impossible. "He brought Akito back from the dead. What kind of power is that?"  
  
"The sun is a vast power." Akito told her. "Kyou, and all the cats of your species, are able to absorb the power of the sun. That power is then given to the head of your family who feeds it to the others. The head of your family is NOT meant to give up their life for the family, they are meant to be a... a conduit for the power to pass through. You see? Only the cat is able to absorb the sun's power, enough power to keep your family alive and healthy. Only the head of your family is able to give that power to those who have needed it. Since the cats of your family were trapped by that bracelet and with the pollution of the human blood, the cats were unable to reach full maturity, the stage where they would be able to use this power. Thus, to keep their family alive, all the heads of your family have been unconsciously giving up their own lives. He is still Kyou," He said this directly to Kagura, almost as if he were comforting her. "Now he has a different outlook on life, he is no longer a child, no matter what his outward appearance is. He is in control of his body. I should add," He looked around at the Souma's gathered around him. "That you should think hard about how you treat Kyou. He is not bound to stay with you. You are dependent on him."  
  
Akito was nestled in Shigure's arms, much to Shigure's pleasure. Akito gave no reason for this, but he seemed to be thinking very hard while all this was going on. His brow was drawn together in concentration and he kept running his hands up and down Shigure's arms as he thought.  
  
"I will do it." Kureno said without hesitation. "I will do as Kyou has done and become what I was meant to be. If I never become old, I will never grow slow, my reflexes will not fail. I can always protect Akito."  
  
"Me, too." Kagura said, determinedly. "I want to stay with Kyou. If he's already going to be young forever, then I don't want to grow old without him." To Kagura, it didn't matter that Kyou had never actually said whether or not he loved her. He had always neatly avoided the question. Kagura loved Kyou and that was all that mattered to her. She would follow him anywhere.  
  
It went on like this, everyone declaring what they would do. Momiji would not. He still had his family, mama, papa, and Momo. He wanted to be near them, even if mama and Momo never knew him or if papa wouldn't speak to him in public. Hatsuharu couldn't decide. Rin would. Ayame was undecided and said that he didn't want to just leave Mine-chan behind along with his shop. Hatori said nothing either way. Hiro and Kisa agreed that they wanted to stay with their families, so no, they would not accept the Count's offer. Ristu thanked the Count very politely for the offer, but said he couldn't possibly leave his mother, just like that. This wasn't a trip he could come home from, it was a one way journey. Yuki, also, declined the offer. Very deliberately, almost as a challenge, Yuki took Tohru's hand and held it tightly. "Not yet, anyway." Yuki added and Shigure was sure that he saw Yuki's eyes trail over to the still naked Kyou.  
  
"You, too, are allowed to make this choice." Count D told Akito. "You are apart of this family, also."  
  
"No." Akito shocked everyone with his answer. "Don't look at me like this. I'm not so blind as I was. I can see what I've done over the years." He swallowed hard and leaned back, against Shigure even more. "I know what harm I've done to everyone. I...I don't want to live with this guilt. My thinking is clearer now than ever before, thank to Kyou. I understand I was sick, but I can't stand the thought of near eternity with the guilt of what I've done."  
  
Hatori spoke quietly. "No one blames you, Akito." It was true. They all knew that whatever Akito did, it wasn't his fault. He was just sick.  
  
"I blame myself." Akito answered. "No. I will grow old and die in due course. When I die, you will be able to raise your next head of the family properly. No mistakes, the next time."  
  
"The next time, the head of your family will be born to one of pure blood." Count D told everyone. "That was the way it always was before. You will not have to search through all the Souma family to find them. For instance, should no one else chose to have their human blood taken from them, Kyou would bear the next head of the family."  
  
Everyone's eyes widened. "That is not possible." Hatori replied, coldly.  
  
Count D looked as if he might laugh. "Possible and impossible are human concepts and do not apply to your family. In the past, males of your family would give birth if there were no available females or if all the females were children and unable to survive a pregnancy. I suggest that all of you return to your home now. The immediate danger to your family is over and my debt is paid. Think long and hard about what you want to do and then come to me; this is not a choice to be made lightly. I plan on being in Japan for quite some time. In time, as more of you die and your spirits are reborn, your family will become completely without trace of human blood. It is only a matter of time."  
  
Kyou-  
  
Kyou was proud of what he'd done. It had been so tempting to be petty and hurt Akito, but Kyou hadn't done it. He'd done the right thing and now his life was set on another path he hadn't chosen, but was glad for. He was important, useful to the family.  
  
Tohru caught Kyou in a tight hug when everyone was done talking and started to get ready to leave. "Kyou! I'm so glad you're all right!" She cried, holding him tightly.  
  
It was amazing to be able to hold her like this. Kyou hugged Tohru back, something he'd longed to do, almost since the day they'd met. She was just as he'd imagined her to be, soft and small. She felt so perfect in his arms. Kyou put his cheek against her hair and took a deep breath. It didn't seem surprising that she was a bird. Kyou could smell that almost right away. Nothing should surprise Kyou anymore. "I'm glad to see you, too, Tohru." It seemed so inadequate. How could Kyou ever find the words to tell her that without her, he would have spent every moment of the last year or so in misery. She'd made his life so much easier to bear and he was delighted that she was going to be in his new life.  
  
Over Tohru's head, Kyou saw Yuki watching them, awkwardly. He wondered how Yuki felt, watching them. He didn't want to make Yuki jealous, that wasn't his intention at all. So Kyou released Tohru and went to stand in front of Yuki. "You came, too. Just like in the forest."  
  
"Of course I came." Yuki wasn't afraid to meet Kyou's eyes, but he looked at him like he was trying to figure Kyou out. "Did you think I wouldn't?"  
  
"I wasn't in any position to think anything when I came here." It seemed very pointless to fight with Yuki, now. In fact, Kyou wanted to laugh at himself for all the silly fights they'd gotten into over the years. It seemed so childish, now. "Yuki," Kyou put an arm over Yuki's shoulder and drew Yuki in close to his side. "I'm very fond of Tohru. How about you?"  
  
Yuki flushed bright red and Kyou thought it was cute. Just a short time ago, he'd never have been able to ask Yuki something like that. He would have died of embarrassment before he'd say something like that, especially right in front of Tohru. Tohru seemed as if she might faint so, to save her, Kyou put an arm around her and pulled her in close, just like he'd done to Yuki. He liked this: warm and close. It felt very comfortable. "Everything's done now and everyone's going home. I think Shigure will stay at the estate with Akito tonight. Let's get Kagura and then all go home together." He had a sudden urge.  
  
Tohru, as innocent as ever, didn't suspect anything, but pulled away from Kyou. "I want to thank Ten-chan and Michael for their help, first. I'll be right back." Then she dashed off.  
  
Yuki was not nearly so innocent as Kyou and seemed to hear something nefarious in Kyou's suggestion that they all go home together. He fled after Tohru. "Wait, Tohru! You shouldn't go off alone!" It was obviously an excuse to get away from Kyou. At the open doorway, they bumped into Kagura, spoke to her for a moment, and then the three of them went off together.  
Kyou found that he was the last one in the forest room alone with Count D. "I can never thank you enough for what you've done." Kyou told him, giving Count D a low bow.  
  
"There is no need for thanks. This is the repayment of a debt." Count D looked after where Yuki and Tohru dashed through the now open door and into the rest of the petshop. "The doors of my petshop are locked tightly, they will be able to go nowhere but to the front room and then out into Japan. Your friends will find Ten-chan just down the hallway."  
  
"And Michael?" Kyou wasn't sure who Michael was and wondered if he should be jealous that Tohru was so eager to meet someone.  
  
"He will not be there. His time grows so short. He wanted to see Yuki one last time, though." There was a terrible sadness in Count D's voice. "Michael will not live much longer."  
  
"He's sick?"  
  
"No. It is his nature. He didn't want Yuki to know. You see, Michael is one of Yuki's plants, from his garden in the forest. Every day Yuki would visit his garden to make sure they had enough water and that the weeds were pulled out. He spoke to his plants while he was there and they learned everything about the Souma family and how miserable Yuki was. All of his plants cared very much for Yuki. How could they not? Yuki cared very much for them. Michael's gone back to the garden now. He didn't want to concern Yuki with who he was, so he quietly slipped away. So, may I ask what you plan to do with those three? You sounded very eager a moment ago."  
  
"There's no reason why I can't have all three of them." Kyou said, defensively. What would have seemed immoral and impossible a few days ago now seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Why not?  
  
"None at all." Count D agreed and smiled gently, putting one hand on Kyou's face, looking at him like a teacher who was pleased with his student. "Whoever heard of a cat in a monogamous relationship? You feel your heart torn in several directions, it is only natural to act upon it. Very few animals keep a single mate for life. You may have a difficult time convincing them."  
  
Tohru, Kagura, and...Yuki. There it was, out in the open. Kyou had never dared to think about it before, but now...there was a new calm in him, now. It didn't frighten him to think of himself as being bisexual. It was as if all the fear and uncertainty he'd been feeling for so long had been cleared away. He fully planned on seducing all three of them in short order. Kagura would be willing, but Tohru and Yuki would take more time. No matter. The hunt made the capture more thrilling and, now, Kyou had all the time in the world.  
  
Kyou's eyes roamed from Count D to the world around him. This all seemed so perfect, right out of his memory. The hills, the river, the cabin, the... Ah! Kyou's eyes fell on the table where his bracelet still lay. He'd almost forgotten. "I owe you this." Kyou ran to the table and fetched the bracelet back, holding it out to Count D. "This is what you said you wanted. It's all yours."  
  
D-  
  
D studied the bracelet in Kyou's hand for a long time. He didn't move closer, but kept his eyes fixed on the bracelet. The white of D's bones as the white beads of the bracelet shone in the bright sun and he could feel his own blood calling out to him. D reached out for the bracelet at the tempting call of his body trying to return to itself.  
  
"Go ahead, take it. It's yours." Kyou smiled. "You were right, I don't need it anymore."  
  
There it was, being offered to him. D could take it and no one could dispute his right to it. Papa would never be able to claim the Souma family again without another similar prison and Sofu had promised long ago to make sure Papa did not make anymore children just so he would be able to retrieve the parts he wanted.  
  
D swallowed hard. Not all change was good.  
  
"Thank you." D gave Kyou a slight, polite, bow before he pulled a small pouch from one of his long sleeves. It was one of those convenient talents D had. "Please, put it in here. I will find a safe place for it."  
  
Kyou did what he was asked without question, slipping the bracelet into the black pouch and handing it back to D who slid it back into his sleeves. He wouldn't risk touching it. Not yet. For now, D would put the pouch somewhere safe.  
  
Time was not stopping, after all. Leon was continuing to grow older every moment that passed. One day, Leon's golden hair would turn grey, then silver, and finally white. His handsome face would wrinkle with age and his strength would falter. He would die.  
  
'When my Leon is dead, when he is taken from me, perhaps I will have no more desire to love him. If the pain of living without him is too great, then I will let myself feel nothing more.' D couldn't imagine trying to live without Leon's constant presence. Surely, he wasn't strong enough to bear it. If Leon's death made D incapable of caring for the Earth and its people, as was his responsibility, then D would hold the bracelet in his bare hands and allow himself to become a 'true' Kami as Sofu wished.  
  
"What are you going to do with it?" Kyou asked, seeing that D had little intention was wearing the bracelet.  
  
"It is a treasure. I will put it somewhere safe. I may want it in the future."  
  
Before everyone left, D had one more thing to discuss with them. Rather he discussed it with Kureno and Akito. "The Black Scorpion will come looking for your children. A friend of mine found out that you brought many of them to your home and he rescued the rest of them. The last I heard, he left them at your home and a man, Kazuma, took the children away from your estate to protect your family and the children. They fear that the Black Scorpion will send assassins to kill not only the children, but anyone in your family who has had contact with them."  
  
Akito took the news calmly. "Kureno?"  
  
"I'll take care of it, Akito." Kureno nodded and looked at D. "May I speak with this friend of yours? He may have information I can use. I will destroy them at their source." This wasn't bragging and he didn't have any particular pleasure in his voice when he said it. This was just business.  
  
"Of course." D agreed. Leon would be so pleased with him. With the power, influence, and money of the Souma family, plus the children and those little disks that Leon said miss Jill had, it would be simple for them to find and crush the Black Scorpion. "I believe he was looking of you, also. Please come by tomorrow and he will be here." Of course Leon was at the petshop right at that moment, but D wasn't about to tell Kureno that. Leon and Kureno would want to go hunting Black Scorpion right then and there. D had other plans for the coming night, now that he was feeling better.  
  
D reminded Tohru to return for her lessons in flying, if she wanted them, and then locked the door as soon as all of his guests had left. Finally, his headache was gone.  
  
Later that night-  
Leon-  
  
In the quiet of the petshop, Leon was slowly undressing. He was absolutely scared out of his wits. D had invited Leon to spend the night with him for the first time. Not on the sofa, but in D's bed. What frightened Leon most of all was that he had accepted the invitation.  
  
'I can't believe I'm doing this. I can stop now. D won't stop me, if I want to leave. Ayame's still letting me use his apartment.' Leon slipped his T-shirt off and carefully laid it on the floor. He caught a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror and was disgusted with how afraid he looked, even to himself. 'This is stupid! I'm a cop, this is nothing to be scared of!' Leon began to work on the button of his jeans, but his fingers wouldn't work right and kept fumbling clumsily.  
  
"May I help?"  
  
Leon jumped at the voice. "Jeezus, D, you..." Leon paused when he turned around and saw D, but...it wasn't D. This man's hair was much shorter than D's and there was something different about the face. It was the eyes. Both of this man's eyes were gold. "Who are you?" Leon did not like this situation.  
  
"You may call me Sofu." D's dopple-ganger came closer and closer until Leon hit the bathtub with the backs of his legs and had nowhere left to go. Leon didn't like being so close to anyone like this. "I am closely related to the D you know." Sofu smiled and reached up to gently touch Leon's face. "You bring him very much happiness. I will ask you not to make him grieve, if you can help it. His happiness is very important to me." Sofu's hand left Leon's face and went down to the waistband of Leon's jeans.  
  
Leon felt completely helpless to move so long as he was looking into Sofu's eyes. He just stood there as Sofu undid the button on Leon's jeans and then released Leon from his gaze. "What did you do me?!" Leon demanded when he could speak again.  
  
"Take care of him." Sofu replied, not bothering to answer Leon's question. "I value him dearly." Then Sofu was gone.  
  
Thinking that he must have run out the door or something, Leon burst out of the bathroom and directly into D's bedroom. D, sitting on the edge of his bed petting Q-chan, looked up and smiled. "Leon, are you so shy? You do not need to wear your pants to bed."  
  
Leon blushed and felt his throat seize up. He went back into the bathroom and finished undressing before putting on the pajamas D had given him. Fine blue silk, more expensive than anything Leon had ever owned, Leon was hesitant to even put them on for fear of somehow ruining them. Still, he dressed and went back out to D. He must have been imagining things. He was so worked up right now that Leon might have had any number of hallucinations.  
  
Leon's heart was thudding so hard that he feared he might throw up. He didn't, though, and walked around to sit on the opposite side of the bed. "Ummm... D? Are you sure...?"  
  
"Turn the light off, won't you?" D interrupted as he took off his bathrobe and laid hung it on a hook near the door. He wore a long nightshirt that was just as expensive looking as Leon's pajamas. When D crawled into the bed and lay his head down, Leon did as D asked and then crawled in next to D "Leon?"  
  
"Yeah?" Leon was very proud that his voice didn't squeak when he said that. Leon's hands tightened on the bedclothes. The darkness of the bedroom made everything seem more intimate.  
  
"I am not going to bite you."  
  
That made Leon laugh nervously. "I know."  
  
"Close your eyes and go to sleep, Leon." D rolled over and Leon could feel D looking at him in the darkness and wished he could see D's face. "I will never do anything you are not ready to do and you are not ready this night. We have plenty of time for everything. I invited you here to sleep, nothing more. Pleasant dreams." A soft kiss touched Leon's cheek before D rolled over and didn't speak again.  
  
After a while, Leon's eyes grew heavy and he relaxed into sleep feeling more comfortable than he could ever remember feeling before.  
  
EPILOGUE-  
  
Everything worked out very well for everyone, in the end.  
  
Even for Shigure, life worked out well.  
  
The night they'd returned from Count D's petshop, Shigure had let Akito fall asleep on his lap. As he stroked Akito's dark grey hair, Shigure thought how lucky he was. It had been a very long, very hard road, but everything had worked out well. Akito had forgiven him, as had the rest of the family. Akito was strong now, well...stronger than he had been. He was strong enough that he walked nearly the entire way home unassisted. He was happy that nearly everyone in his whole family was happy. It was something that Shigure had never dared to hope for. If not entirely stable, Akito was certainly capable of more rational thought, now. His abuse at the hands on Ren would forever scar him, but at least he no longer feared dying at such a young age. Kyou's healing, or whatever it was that he'd done to Akito, had managed to straighten out most of Akito's mind and Shigure would always be grateful for that.  
  
Maybe, one day, he would even tell Akito how he felt. It didn't matter now. Shigure really didn't care if his love was reciprocated or not. Looking out of Akito's bedroom window at the silent estate, Shigure thought that nothing mattered, but the peace. For one night, at least, the whole family was at peace.  
  
The end  
  
Readers:  
  
Yaun 18: Hope you enjoy, especially since you reviewed before you read it.  
  
elisteran: I'm starting a sequel to this story called 'A LONG WAY HOME' and I hope to cover many of those little details you mentioned. Hana and Uo will have a bigger role in the next story, especially Uo.  
  
Cloudtrader: Thanks for the lovely compliments.  
  
LaBarrone: You don't like Yaoi?! (Shock!) And here I thought everyone liked it. Just teasing. Anyway, I'm glad you liked most of the story, thanks for leaving a review, it means a lot to me.  
  
moongur: I'm very glad you liked it.  
  
Wildfirefriendship0: We'll get to see more Kyou in the next story, though the angst will focus on someone else, he'll definitely have a good sized role.  
  
GrrlN: Torhu 'N company will be big players in the next chapter, especially Uo-chan. It'll take me a bit to get the first chapter ready for posting, though. I have to get the whole story outlined first or else I'll get lost in my own story.  
  
Sylindara: I'll try to cover everything in the sequel, I hope you give it a try.  
  
Kireina: Akito and Shigure will be a focus in the sequel.  
  
Demeter1: Trust me, their new lives will have plenty of problems and lots of fun. Also...a bit of unpleasantness.  
  
Kate: Ha! Ha! I'll do the fic as soon as I can, but there are other fics to finish up first.  
  
I am the bunny slayer: I'm flattered, I've read many good ones out there.  
  
Sherri: Thanks, I'm very glad you like it. I really enjoyed my Kureno, though he's not really much in keeping with the Kureno from the manga. Still, I liked him.  
  
Kenji M. : Such an honest review. I'm glad you like the pace of the story, I was afraid it was too slow and people would get bored. My choice for pairings were actually inspired by what I saw in the anime/manga and what I hoped would happen in the future of the story. I see no reason my Mine-chan can't be bisexual and Jill strikes me as a very butch sort of girl. I like them together and I plan to have give them more of a role in the next story. As for Hatori and Ayame, I just love them together. Hatori needs to get over Kana and I think Ayame is the one who can help him do that. Rin and Hatsuharu are a cannon couple as are Count D and Leon (As far as I'm concerned ,they are) and Uo-chan and Kureno. If they are to lose all their human blood, more animal like traits will begin to show and cats do not stick with one mate. Besides, who says Kyou will get what he wants? About the ending summary...well, I didn't like it either, in all honesty. So, it's changed in this update. I hope you like this one better.  
  
Sorry to everyone I didn't answer, I couldn't get to all the reviews, for some reason. I do appreciate the effort you went to, though, and I liked all your reviews.  
  
Dear readers, thank you all for bearing with me in this little journey. I had great fun writing this story and I hope you all enjoyed reading it. I've gotten more reviews for this story than I am sure I deserve, what with all my spelling and grammatical errors, but thank you very much. I'm deeply honored that you all thought enough to write.  
  
Until next time,  
  
Cousin D 


	28. AUTHOR'S ANNOUNCEMENT

btw: Thought I'd let you all know, I'm planning a sequel to Long Denied. It won't be for a couple of months, as I have to finish several other fics that are already started, but it will be done. So, if anyone has any requests or ideas, now is the time to tell me. Since I already have a plot for the story and I've started working on an outline of it, I won't promise that I can work with your requests, but I love getting ideas from you and it often inspires me with something I hadn't thought of.  
  
The title of the sequel will be: A LONG WAY HOME 


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